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The Chinese government has shut down more than one million Websites in 2010, according to a Chinese state-run agency.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said there were 41 percent fewer Websites at the end of 2010 than a year earlier, according to a BBC report July 13. Chinese officials exercise strict control over the Internet using a variety of filtering and blocking methods. Officials launched a crackdown on adult content and similar sites in 2009.
The numbers are much higher than the 60,000 number from the State Council Information Office on Dec. 30. The council claimed 350 million pages, or “pieces of harmful information,” including pictures, video and text, were deleted in 2010, and 60,000 adult content sites were shut down. Approximately 1.79 million Websites had been “checked” for offensive content, the government agency said at the time.
Liu Ruisheng, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that despite the declining number of sites, the number of web pages had risen to 60 billion during 2010 – a 79 percent increase on the previous year.
“This means our content is getting stronger, while our supervision is getting more strict and more regulated,” said Liu.