China recruits volunteers to clean up Web

BEIJING, June 20 (UPI) -- The Chinese government plans to recruit thousands of volunteers to identify violent and sexually oriented material from the Internet, officials said.

The Capital Civic Enhancement Committee Office announced the plan Friday, Xinhua, the official government news agency, said. All volunteers would be registered under their real names, officials said, and would get direction from the CCECO.

"The aim is to shield the minors from unwanted harm they might be subjected to on the Internet," said a CCECO official identified only by his surname, Zhou.

In addition to violence and pornography, volunteers would look for libel and for people engaged in "uncivilized behavior" online.

In some areas, including Beijing, volunteers are being recruited to supervise children who visit cyber cafes.

China has recently taken a number of steps to clean up the Internet, the report said, including requiring all computers to be sold with filtering software. The China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center Thursday accused Google of providing links to pornography through its Chinese portal.