China cracks down on cartoon and gaming sites, including those run by Tencent, Baidu, and Qihoo 360

Another day, another bunch of Chinese websites biting the dust. China’s perpetual quest for a squeaky-clean internet goes on, and while the smut on state-run media sites unsurprisingly hasn’t been affected, other sites are feeling the sting. The latest victims are a number of anime and gaming websites, including sites operated by Tencent, Baidu, and Qihoo 360.

China’s Ministry of Culture announced Tuesday that in December, it investigated and punished nine cartoon websites, including Tencent’s animation portal site, for containing illegal content like excessive violence, gambling, and “lewd” material. The punishment included fines, confiscation of the offending materials, and an order to clean up their act. Specific columns on some of the sites, including Tencent’s, were also shuttered permanently.

The Ministry also shut down ten other animation websites which were found to be operating without permits.

On the gaming side, the Ministry investigated and punished 13 app platforms, including those operated by Baidu and Qihoo 360, for containing mobile games with illegal content like excessive violence, gambling, and “lewd” material. The platforms were fined and ordered to delete the offending mobile games.

(Source: Techweb)