China closes 1.8 mn networking accounts in porn crackdown

China has closed nearly 1.8 million social networking and instant messaging accounts since April, when it launched a campaign to purge the internet of obscene content, Xinhua reported Saturday.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, formerly known as the State Internet Information Office closed microblog, WeChat and QQ accounts, a statement said late Friday. These accounts were used to release porn information and invite people to solicit prostitution, it added.

Earlier Wednesday, China's anti-pornography authorities said that 62 people were detained for using social networking services to organise prostitution or spread pornographic content.

China launched the internet cleansing campaign in April this year in an effort to eliminate content related to pornography and violence in the cyberspace.

Many of these accounts were shut down by internet companies such as Sina and Tencent after an internal "self-check", and many were reported by the public. The office also organised special inspections, the statement said.