Central authorities crack down on porn, illegal publications

Central authorities on Wednesday launched a new two-month campaign to crack down on pornographic and illegal publications nationwide.

The campaign, jointly launched by the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications, General Administration of Press and Publication and the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, aims to solve a number of major cases, shut down websites carrying "harmful information" and detain a number of offenders.

The three organs will conduct a thorough overhaul of the publishing industry before Sept. 20 to ferret out sellers operating without licenses.

An online inspection will also be conducted, with websites found to be distributing porn and illegal publications shut down.

Local authorities across the nation will strictly screen newspapers and magazines carrying illegal medical advertisements and eliminate books and audio-visual products that contain pornographic, violent or gang-related material, as well as eradicate "vulgar" content on the Internet.

The government has tried to make greater efforts to crack down on pornography and illegal publications in order to create a "sound social and cultural environment" ahead of the approaching 18th CPC National Congress.