China Conducts Random Check on Internet to Shut Down Illegal Websites

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) conducted an exercise on Thursday involving a random check on some websites and asking them to submit relevant data of Net users who surf illegal websites, a move aimed at shutting down such websites.

The MPS Internet police held the exercise Thursday afternoon, randomly selecting IP addresses and asking the websites which offer service to the IP addresses to submit their information, including their ID numbers and contact details, a customer service operator at Yien Technology, an IT company based in Central China's Henan Province, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Aside from Yien, operators from Very Cloud, a Jiangsu-based network provider, and a Beijing-based IT company also confirmed the exercise. 

"The exercise was held from 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm on Thursday, and users were randomly picked from all provinces," said an employee surnamed Xu from Very Cloud.

Websites which fail to provide the required information would be shut down, he added.

The customer service operator at Yien Technology added that the move is targeted at VPNs and illegal websites, such as porn sites, to create a clean and healthy Internet environment.

The MPS did not respond to a request for comment from the Global Times as of the press time on Thursday. 

Zhang Feng, spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said in July that to better regulate the Internet, the MIIT issued a regulation in January.