Xiao Mingli is a migrant working in Beijing, and in his spare time he likes reading e-books online. But since April, Xiao discovered that he could not read anything on the Reading Channel of Sina, one of the largest portal websites in China, as the channel was banned by the authorities for containing porn content.

"It's not surprising to see that because it contained a lot of porn articles while having some really nice literature," said Xiao. "I knew it would be banned sooner or later."

Sina.com was fined 5.08 million yuan ($828,700) and had its Internet Publication License and License for Online Transmission of Audio-Visual Programs for its Reading Channel revoked.

Besides Sina, Kuaibo, one of China's most popular online video platforms, was also blocked for similar reasons. Other Internet giants like Baidu, Xunlei, WeChat, Sohu and QQ all announced that they would take measures to clean up the information they provide.

These measures come after China began carrying out its anti-pornography campaign, Cleaning the Web 2014, which spans from April to November.

Statistics show that this year's campaign is much more severe than the previous efforts and many websites, big or small, have to face serious consequences if found with improper information. As of June, related authorities have seized and suspended more than 422 porn sites and 360 porn channels, along with over 4,800 blogs, WeChat profiles and forum accounts. More than 7,000 porn advertising hyperlinks were blocked and over 300,000 pieces of porn-related information were deleted. 

Protecting the youngsters

"Currently, some media, especially those on the Internet, provide a lot of vulgar information. Harsh measures should be taken to keep high pressure on all the websites, in order to ensure a safe and healthy growth of our young people," said Pi Yijun, Professor of China University of Political Science and Law.

Young people are the most vulnerable group to be affected by online pornography. According to the Statistical Report on Internet Development in China, by the end of 2013, China had 618 million Internet users, of which 34.9 percent were below 19 years of age.

"Many young people are addicted to pornography on the Internet and lose themselves [in it]. Some of them have even committed crimes," said Pi. "Efforts should be made to leave no space for pornography on the Internet."

Statistics from the Ministry of Public Security show that in the past decade, nearly 80 percent of the captured young criminals committed crimes after being influenced by improper Internet information.

"By making all these efforts, we are striving to return a clean Internet world to the users, especially the youngsters," said Du Yubo, Vice Minister of Education. 

Moms' action

Besides the government, there are many non-governmental organizations and even individuals who join the fight against online pornography. In January 2010, Beijing Internet Association launched a program, Moms Jury, and publicized a notice to recruit moms as their members.

Yang Lu, a freelancer, is a member of Moms Jury, and has been working for the program for over two years.

"When I first saw the recruitment notice, I knew I must join in," said Yang, who has a son who was in junior high school at the time.

Yang often uses the Internet in her writing and comes across pornographic and violent articles, images and videos on many websites, including some of the big players in the industry. Yang said the way pornography is strategically hidden makes it difficult for parents to monitor, but easy for most tech savvy children to find.

Moms Jury consists of members from all walks of life, more than 70 percent of them have children in primary or secondary schools. After a short training period, these moms search for improper online information and report the sites to the authorities.

"Moms Jury has become a bridge connecting the public and dotcoms, as well as the government authorities," said Yang.

After the launch of Cleaning the Web 2014, Yang said every citizen should be helping the authorities in this crackdown. Along with other members of Moms Jury, Yang also wrote and published articles calling on children to stay away from online pornography.

"Youngsters are the largest group of Internet users, and bad information on the Internet will surely harm them, as they do not have the capacity to make judgments independently," said Yang. "We should give our children a piece of clean sky."