BEIJING — China warned Google and other popular Web portals Monday that they must do more to block pornographic material from reaching Chinese users, the latest in a series of government crackdowns targeting Internet content.
The crackdown focused on pornography but is part of a larger Chinese effort to control freedom of expression and root out material it considers destabilizing, such as sites that criticize the Communist Party, promote democratic reform or advocate Taiwan independence.
Pornography is banned in China but remains widely available on and off the Internet.
The announcement said Google and Baidu, China’s two most heavily used search engines, had failed to take “efficient” measures after receiving notices from the country’s Internet watchdog that they were providing links to pornographic material.
Google asserted that it abides by Chinese law and does not generate pornographic content.
Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of , a website that covers Chinese media issues, said such campaigns happen regularly in China to keep Internet sites in line with the government, and the mention of Google and Baidu is meant to send a strong message to the whole industry.
“The fact that they rapped every major website on the knuckles … it is sending a message out to be on their best behavior, and that’s a system that everyone understands,” he said.
