China closes porn, content sharing websites

BEIJING (AP) — China says it has closed scores of websites for offering pornography, video sharing and online gaming.

The official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday said a new crackdown led to the shuttering of 225 websites and more than 30,000 blogs and Twitter-like microblog accounts found to be offering obscene or improper content. They included sites offering photo and video sharing as well as online gaming, Xinhua said, citing a statement from the State Internet Information Office.

It said the office was working with police and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to investigate those running the sites and how they got online.

China's Communist authorities heavily police the Internet for content deemed obscene or politically subversive. Twitter, Facebook, and other Western social media sites are blocked.