China has launched its toughest-ever crackdown against online
pornography with several telecommunications operators banding
together to cut off offensive material right at the source.
Reviewing the details of online pornography crimes will allow a
better perspective in how to eliminate this blight. Two factors
make fighting pornography a priority for telecom operators.
Firstly, websites can gain more clients via distribution outlets
run by the operators. Secondly, cell phones have become the weapon
of choice for those seeking to download porn films, due to their
efficiency and speed. Porn providers can also maintain their
content in a cheaper fashion through mobile services, making
telecommunication operators an associate since they act as the
medium between illegal websites and users.
It would seem that these faults are merely by-products of
standard technological services such as providing an internet
connection and a distribution channel. However, enterprises are
obliged to regulate and censor their partners, in order to help
clean the internet and prevent free dissemination of obscenity.
Telecom operators are not exempt from this rule, as specifically
stipulated in the current telecommunications statute.
It is undeniable that both external and internal forces have led
to this subversion of traditional telecom roles, pushing them to
becoming supervisors of online culture. Unfortunately, some
operators are ignoring this phenomenon, allowing porn to thrive on
their domains. Some of them have even entered into partnerships
with porn websites through offering message-sending and
registration services. In recent weeks, the crisis surrounding
Vnet.cn, a pornographic website, placed Hengyang Telecom in central
China's Hunan Province under the spotlight given the
availability of many porn films via its service platform.
Acting as a crucial link in the porn industry, any
telecommunications operators that aid or help pornographic
operations should be punished.
(China.org.cn by He Shan, July 5, 2007)