With one idea in mind, that pornography perverts the young population, the Public Security Ministry in China shut down 44,000 porn websites and arrested 868 people last year, state media reported. Approximately 2,000 people who were involved in such “unhealthy” activities were penalized since the Chinese government started the anti-pornography campaign in 2007.

The official China Internet Network Information Center released an astounding figure last month, saying that the Chinese online population has reached 210 million users and could soon surpass the United States. The Chinese government however initiated a censorship campaign meant to put a stop to the threat to social stability the uncontrolled internet access poses.

One particular case was a porn site based in Taiwan that offered life strip show or sex acts filmed in different locations in China. 33 people were arrested for selling real-time porn. The site easily became one of the most visited pornographic sites, but its regular users were in for an unpleasant surprise when authorities shut it down last year.

As the Olympic Games approach, Chinese authorities lead a “cleaning” campaign, banning all messages, whether text, audio or video, sexually suggestive, including some ads, which corrupted the mind of young Chinese and posed a threat to future social stability.

China has one of the most restrictive internet policies in the world, and a monitoring police is permanently on stand-by, ready to take action whenever necessary.  A total of 199,000 sites were registered in China last year, and authorities said they will continue the monitoring campaign after the Olympics.

Moreover, the Chinese officials announced that starting January 31, the only sites with broadcasting license will be the government-run entities, so as to avoid any content promoting pornography, violence, religious cults or unveiling national secrets.

The anti-pornographic campaign will continue at least until September, after the end of the Beijing Olympic Games. Slowly, but firmly, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security will hunt down all the porn sites that aim at altering the minds of young people. One question still remains though for the millions of users: What to do now?