In its campaign against pornographic websites, authorities in China have shut down 44,000 websites and arrested 868 people.

From Reuters:

Chinese authorities shut down 44,000 domestic Web sites and home pages and arrested 868 people while investigating 524 criminal cases during the campaign.

The campaign will continue until September, after the close of the Beijing Olympics.

The article mentions that human rights organizations believe that the campaign is used to target political opponents and other dissident groups.

Rights groups have said the campaign has been used as a thinly veiled pretext to crack down on dissent and round up online dissidents ahead of the Olympics.

China has attempted to stifle online criticism of the ruling Communist Party and discussion related to sensitive topics such as Tibet and Taiwan by ordering Web sites to register with authorities.

China employs tens of thousands of human Internet censors and a vast network of filters to control online information.

China last month said it would crack down on video-sharing Web sites, and allow only state-controlled sites to post video content online in new restrictions effective from January 31.