Beijing: No websites can spread sex and 'vulgarity' in China any more. That country's government started a crackdown against major websites that were accused of threatening morals by spreading pornography and vulgarity. The dominant search engines like Google and Baidu are on radar, says a Reuters report, citing state television.

A nationwide campaign to clean up a vulgar current on the Internet had been launched by China's Ministry of Public Security and six other government agencies after a meeting, in which, they named and exposed a number of websites violating public morality and harming the physical and mental health of youth and young people. The 19 Internet operators and websites named had failed to swiftly cut 'vulgar' content and had not heeded warnings from censors, the report said.

China's ruling Communist Party has been wary of threats to its grip on information and has launched many such censorship efforts before, targeting pornography, political criticism and web scams. But officials flagged tougher steps this time.

Baidu dominates the Chinese web search and advertising market with an estimated two-thirds of the users. Google, the global market leader, is a distant number two in China.

The campaign also coincides with Communist Party efforts to stifle dissent and protest as the economy slows and as China enters a year of sensitive anniversaries, especially the 20th year since the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 1989.

"Some websites have exploited loopholes in laws and regulations," said Cai Mingzhao, a deputy chief of the State Council Information Office, who chaired the meeting, according to a report on an official news website ( www.china.com.cn ).

Cai told officials to "fully grasp the gravity and threat of the vulgar current infesting the Internet" and said law-breakers face "stern punishment." Despite China's rings of censorship, websites and especially blogs have become sometimes racy magnets for the country's nearly 300 million registered Internet users, many in their teens.

Cui Jin, a public relations official for Google in mainland China and Sun Yao, Baidu's PR representative declined to comment on the issue.