The Chinese government has threatened to step up its crackdown on online gambling sites.
The famed 'Great Firewall of China' has seen numerous well known internet resources blocked from operating effectively in China, including Google, Youtube and a bunch of social networking sites. At the start of the year officials declared war on online casino sites, and within weeks a number or arrests were announced.
It seems the crackdown was neither a flash in the pan, or political rhetoric with officials threatening a continued hard line stance against what they are calling 'overseas hostile forces'. Wang Chen, chief of the Cabinet's Information Office told a Chinese news agency last week,
'We will strengthen the blocking of harmful information from outside China to prevent harmful information from being disseminated in China and withstand online penetration by overseas hostile forces'
China's extensive web monitoring and blocking efforts have until recently been limited to sites voicing the concerns of political dissidents, human rights, Tibet and other activists not towing the government line. But great firewall now has online smut, gambling, fraud and pornography firmly in its sights as well.
Moves to strengthen blocking efforts have been implemented. Telcos and ISPs must now inform the government of any suspected customer offenses, and anyone wanting to launch a website must meet with regulators for approval and submit photos of themselves.
Subscribe to feed