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BEIJING (Reuters) -
China has called on domestic Web sites
to sign a voluntary pact governing online video and audio
content, saying they should exercise self-censorship to ensure
a "healthy and orderly" cyberspace.
The move is part of government efforts to exert greater
control over China's rapidly growing Internet sector, and to
prevent content deemed harmful or subversive from getting into
the public domain.
Eight "central" Web sites on Friday signed the pact
requiring them to eradicate pornography and violence, which had
"seriously polluted the online environment and affected the
growth of young people," the national broadcast watchdog said.
"The signatories should actively disseminate healthy,
beneficial audio-visual programs meeting socialist moral
norms," reads the text of the pact drafted by the State
Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
"Decadent, backward thoughts and culture must be boycotted
by all," according to a copy of the pact posted on the
administration's Web site (www.sarft.gov.cn). Content related
to gambling and "horror" were also targeted.
Signatories so far included the sites of official news
agency Xinhua, Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily
and other state media organizations.
The Ministry of Information Industry unveiled new rules on
online video and audio content banning violent, pornographic
and fake material late last year.
The rules stipulate that Web sites offering broadcast or
streaming services should be run by state-invested bodies.
Sites that have a clean record would be able to reapply for
independent operating licenses.
The pact asked Web sites to use an online database
(net.tv.cn) set up by the watchdog where there was a pool of
recommended "excellent" audio-visual programs and a list of
illegal content that must be avoided.
Web sites were also obliged to delete improper content
uploaded by ordinary Internet users and to protect intellectual
property, according to the pact.
(Reporting by Guo Shipeng and Ben Blanchard; Editing by
David Fogarty)
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