• Reuters, Friday, January 23, 2009 11:45 AM

China's Internet crackdown continues, Reuters reports, as Beijing seeks to protect its youth from "vulgarity" on the Web. The Chinese government, insisting the crackdown has nothing to do with stifling politics, has already detained 41 people, saying the move is in reality no different from laws in the U.S. and Europe which aim to keep children away from harmful sites.

"The purpose of this campaign is very clear," Liu Zhengrong, deputy director of the State Council Information Office's Internet Bureau, told a small group of invited reporters. "It's aimed at creating a healthy Internet environment for all young people and making the Internet in China safer and more reliable."

Human rights groups disagree. "The Internet remains where the battle for information lies and the fact that the government is devoting so much effort at reining it in, in itself indicates how much of a threat they perceive it to be," said Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch. As Reuters points out, China, aggressively polices the Internet, quickly removing any content deemed subversive or overly critical of the government. Thus far, officials have closed over 1,200 Web sites, but with an estimated 3,000 new sites appearing daily, the battle to maintain China's Great Firewall is never-ending.

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