The Cleaning the Web 2014 was a special campaign in China to crack down on the production and dissemination of pornography in the Internet. It was jointly implemented by the National Office for the Fight Against Pornography and Illegal Publications, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Public Security.
This is the second government-led sweep of public network information since the 2013 Special Action to Crack Down on and Rectify Network Crimes. The official action lasted from 15 April 2014 to November 2014, and was divided into four main contents: "Clear Source 2014", "Clean Network 2014", "Autumn Wind 2014" and "Strengthen Border 2014". It was stated that the targets of the crackdown were "illegal publications", "obscene and pornographic cultural garbage", and "fake media, fake reporter stations, and fake reporters (three fakes)". As a result of this action, a number of pornographic websites were shut down, and many public network services and literary websites were also impacted.
Background In February 2014, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the Central Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization, regarding cybersecurity as an important issue for national development. This action also occurred shortly after the 2014 crackdown on prostitution in Dongguan.
History
Announcement The authorities formulated the following implementation methods for this operation:
Comprehensive investigation of online pornography. Local authorities were required to conduct thorough investigations of websites, search engines, app stores, internet TV sticks, set-top boxes, and other similar platforms, and to immediately delete any text, images, videos, advertisements, or other information containing "obscene or pornographic content." Enterprises and individuals that produce and disseminate obscene and pornographic information should be severely punished in accordance with the law. Websites, channels, and columns found to have "serious problems in producing and disseminating obscene and pornographic information" would be required to be rectified, shut down, or have their relevant administrative licenses revoked; illegal websites would be "shut down or have their internet access revoked in accordance with the law"; those suspected of "producing, reproducing, publishing, selling, or disseminating obscene electronic information" would be held criminally liable in accordance with the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China and the Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Disseminating Obscene Electronic Information via the Internet, etc.; telecommunications operators, network access service providers, advertising service providers, and billing service providers that facilitate the "dissemination of obscene and pornographic information" would be held criminally and administratively liable. Strictly implement the main responsibility of Internet enterprises Websites, telecommunications operators, and internet access service providers were required to "immediately conduct self-inspection and rectification," clean up online "obscene and pornographic" information or links, develop and apply technical measures to prevent the spread of "obscene and pornographic" information, and must not provide conditions or channels for the dissemination of "obscene and pornographic" information. Seriously investigate and hold accountable those who neglect their duties. Those responsible for dereliction of duty would be held accountable by relevant industry regulatory departments, administrative licensing approval or filing departments that were "lax in supervision". The legal representatives and supervisors of telecommunications operators and information service providers that "violate laws and regulations" would be held accountable.
In addition, contact information for reporting was published, and the public was encouraged to file complaints and reports.
Campaign On April 13, the National Office for the Fight Against Pornography and Illegal Publications, the State Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the "Announcement on Launching a Special Campaign to Combat Online Pornographic Information," announcing the launch of the "Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications · Clean Network 2014" special campaign to combat online pornographic information.
On April 14, the Ministry of Education held a symposium on the national education system's "Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications · Clean Internet 2014" special campaign. Representatives from the Ministry of Education and some teachers and students from higher education institutions discussed the review of online information in universities. On the same day, Zhejiang Province shut down "Cuiweiju Novel Network" on the grounds of "publishing a large number of obscene and pornographic publications". The Guangzhou Public Security Bureau arrested more than 10 people, including Zhou Enhong, on the grounds that "Yanyu Hongchen Novel Network" produced and disseminated obscene and pornographic information, and seized 6 servers and 12 computers.
On April 15, Hunan Province announced its response and implementation of this action. On April 16, the Capital Internet Association issued a proposal in response to this action. On April 17, Guangdong Province began to respond to and implement this action, and the Guangdong Provincial People's Government announced the closure of 256 pornographic websites. On the same day, the Momo software was exposed by the news media for allegedly disseminating pornographic pictures and information related to sex trafficking, and faced the punishment of the government. On April 18, the Beijing Municipal People's Government shut down 241 accounts on pornographic video websites and cleaned up 40,584 related items. On the same day, Shenzhen Kuaibo Technology shut down its QVOD server and stopped video-on-demand and downloading based on Kuaibo technology. On April 20, Shanxi Province began to respond to and implement this action.
On April 21, the State Internet Information Office invited representatives from 15 official websites of the Chinese Communist Party and 6 portal websites, including Sina Corporation, Tencent, and Baidu, to Beijing to participate in the "Symposium of Heads of Central News Websites and Major Commercial Websites" to discuss the progress of the websites' "self-examination and self-correction" and the in-depth implementation of the "Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications · Clean Internet 2014" special campaign, urging them to abide by laws and regulations, not to cross the red line, and to spread positive energy.
On April 22, Qinghai Province began to respond to and implement this action. On the same day, Shenzhen police raided the Shenzhen Kuaibo Technology Company in the Shenzhen Nanshan District Science and Technology Park and began questioning the company's employees. The police had sealed the company's computers, and Kuaibo Company said it would fully cooperate with the police's action. Guangming Daily published a report stating that China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom, the three telecommunications operators, all expressed their "firm support for carrying out the special action to combat pornography and illegal publications" and immediately began to clean up and rectify the problems reported by the National Office Against Pornography and Illegal Publications.
On April 23, Lu Wei, Secretary-General of the Internet Society of China, proposed at a members' symposium to respond to and participate in this action, and put forward the "establishment of a blacklist information sharing mechanism for 'obscene and pornographic' content". Representatives of Internet companies such as Sina, Xunlei, Qihoo 360, Baidu, and NetEase responded to this initiative, strictly investigated website content, opened "reporting portals for bad information", strengthened investigation and prevention efforts from all aspects such as backend operations and frontend pages, and cooperated with the government departments' review work. Representatives of the three telecommunications operators, China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom, also claimed that they would "further strengthen the system, mechanism and technical means", resolutely block and cut off the source of "obscene and pornographic" information dissemination on the Internet, and immediately stop and remove any applications involving such information once they are discovered. They also investigated and cleaned up websites accessed by improving the website registration management. On the same day, the Hebei Provincial Internet Information Office also held a special action symposium at the Hebei Hall. Representatives from the Hebei Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Department, the Hebei Provincial Internet Information Office, the official website of Hebei Province, middle school students, parents and teachers participated in the discussion at the meeting.
On April 24, the National Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications Office announced that Sina.com was suspected of disseminating 20 "obscene and pornographic internet works" and 4 "pornographic internet audio-visual programs" on its reading channel and video programs. It was decided to revoke Sina's Internet Publishing License and Information Network Transmission Audio-Visual Program License, legally stop its business of Internet publishing and online transmission of audio-visual programs, and impose a fine of 5 to 10 times the amount of the violation. Sina subsequently issued a statement saying that "we will earnestly implement the severe punishment given to us by the Internet authorities and will never shirk our responsibilities," and offered the public "the most sincere apology."
On April 26, mainland video portal websites removed four shows: The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, NCIS, and The Practice. Media reports quoted "industry insiders" as saying that the removal of these American dramas was related to the "Clean Internet" campaign. On April 28, Xunlei, a well-known download agent service provider, officially launched a self-censorship. Its Xunlei Cloud Player and offline download products have been basically paralyzed, which has aroused dissatisfaction and calls for refunds from Xunlei VIP paid users. On April 29, the Office of the Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications Working Group and other departments announced that they had investigated and dealt with 110 pornographic websites and closed more than 3,300 illegal and irregular accounts in accordance with the laws and regulations.