Chinese police detained five people in connection with three cases of spreading computer-based pornographic and "lewd" material last month, the government's office for cracking down on online porn and lewd content said Thursday.

Police in eastern Zhejiang and southern Guangdong provinces detected pornographic movies, videos and pictures on the websites and internal servers of Internet bars, said a statement from the office.

One suspect surnamed Zhu, in Zhejiang's Tongxiang City, allegedly uploaded more than 40 problematic movies to the website of an Internet bar called "Deep Blue".

Two people, surnamed Jia and Yang in Leqing City, Zhejiang, are alleged to have offered 325 pornographic videos on the websites of their respective Internet bars.

The remaining two suspects in Meizhou City, Guangdong, allegedly stored more than 700 "lewd" movies and 15,000 pictures on the internal network of an Internet bar called "Yi Dian Tong".

Police did not give the ages, genders or any other information on the suspects. The three cases had been referred for prosecution, the statement said.

Under China's Criminal Law, the non-profit distribution of pornographic and obscene publications, videos, and articles can carry a jail term of up to two years.

"Lewd" content includes violence, libel, private and other information that violates standards of public decency.

Police also detained a 21-year-old man for a similar crime in January and another 16 people suspected of offering online pornographic chat services and performances in the southeastern Fujian Province in January.

Chinese authorities have shut down 1,911 websites since the anti-porn campaign was launched in Jan. 5, according to the office, which operates under seven government departments, including the State Council Information Office and the ministries of public security and culture.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2009)