BEIJING, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- China is increasing it Internet censorship, limiting citizens' ability to start Web sites or visit hundreds of sites offering entertainment, officials say.
Chinese authorities claim the controls are meant to combat pornography, limit digital piracy and guard against Internet scams, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The "Internet has become an important avenue through which anti-China forces infiltrate, sabotage and magnify their capabilities for destruction," said Meng Jianzhu, the public security minister.
But critics say the new measures are designed to increase China's ability to control and put down organized political protest, the Times reported.
In June, the government pushed manufacturers to install Internet filtering software on all computer sold in China, but backed down after protests by Internet users and computer corporations, the newspaper said.
In the last month, China has shut down access to more than 700 Web sites that offered free music, television and movie downloads.
The founder of one of those Web sites criticized that action in a posting on a popular Chinese Internet portal.
"Not just film and video sites are affected," Huang Xiwei of BT China said. "All Web sites owned by individuals will gradually exit the arena. All paths leading to a future have been blocked."
