Somebody Think Of The Children

China’s net censorship: 44,000 sites gone

Xinhua news agency revealed Wednesday that China shut down 44,000 web sites in 2007 as part their campaign to clean up the Internet. Authorities also arrested nearly 900 people as a result.

AFP says:

Another 1,911 people have received unspecified “penalties”, the Xinhua news agency said, citing a statement from a Communist Party meeting.

DailyTech also reports that:

Since 2005, China has required websites and even individual bloggers to register with the government. According to Xinhua, 200,000 sites were registered last year and 14,000 were refused approval. Independent sources say the real number of rejected applicants is much higher.

The hard-line campaign will continue until at least September, after the Olympics end.

Stay up to date with censorship issues affecting Australia by subscribing to my RSS feed. Click here.

You can also be notified of updates by email. Simply enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner