China will shut down pornographic websites and blogs in a nine-month nationwide campaign, said the Ministry of Public Security.

The campaign focusing on clearing porn pictures, articles and videos will last until September, according to the ministry.

According to Beijing Youth Daily, a total of 60,000 websites have been registered to provide audio and visual programs in China. The authority will give special attention to these websites, blogs, videos, point-to-point services, which have become a main channel of pornographic information distribution.

According to the campaign's plan, Internet search engines are asked to filter pornography. Advertisements of sexual tools and porn websites will be banned.

In addition, editors of bulletin board system (BBS), online forums and chatrooms will be asked to register their real names for Internet administration.

Last month, police in the southern province of Guangdong shut down a website selling live-streamed porn and arrested 33 suspects.

China shut down 44,000 domestic websites and homepages, removed 440,000 pornographic live-streaming videos and arrested 868 suspects in 524 criminal cases last year.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2008)