China's Netizens Angry After Crackdown on Web Porn

"This is flat-out corruption," wrote one infuriated netizen on China's popular website Tianya.com. "If a government keeps dumbing down its people like this, how can it ever be respected by the rest of the world?" wrote another. "Our society is moving backwards." (Read "China's 'Netizens' Take On the Government.")

The object of this vitriol was the announcement this week by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) that after July 1, all computers sold in the country would have to have Internet filtering software pre-installed. The remarks exemplify the depth of the outrage felt by many of China's Internet users over what they see as an unprecedented intrusion into their digital lives, even for a government that routinely polices the Web for socially and politically sensitive content and communications. (See pictures of China's electronic waste village.)



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