2,000 Chinese awarded for reporting online porn

BEIJING, CHINA: Over 2,000 people in China have been awarded for reporting Internet and mobile phone pornography to the authorities in 2011.

More than nine million yuan (around 1.5 million) were awarded to a total of 2,129 people, Xinhua reported. People who offered important tip-offs were awarded 1,000 to 10,000 yuan.

Four organisations -- China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Centre, 12321 Internet Obscene and Trash Information Reporting Centre, Internet Illegal Conduct and Crime Reporting Centre, Reporting Centre of the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications -- handled 1.26 million tip-off cases from December 2009 when they began soliciting public information till the end of 2011.

The organizations asked people for greater social engagement in the ongoing crackdown against the spread of pornography through internet and mobile phones.

The campaign targeted various forms of online porn, including through online forums, social media, smartphones, porn websites camouflaged as match-making or sex education websites.