China’s top Internet search engine, Baidu.com, censured for allegedly spreading racy photos from the International Herald Tribune reports Baidu has been censured by a government backed watchdog group for helping spread “filthy pictures.”

Internet users in China were reportedly using Baidu to find images of actor Edison Chen and several female stars in sexual acts that were spreading throughout the web. The images reportedly came from Hong Kong but then made their way into different regions of China, where the government keeps a “tighter watch” over Internet content. The watchgroup said Baidu “have become the platform for displaying and spreading these filthy pictures.”

The group added:

While other Beijing Internet companies have boycotted the spread of the racy photos, Baidu still hasn’t implemented effective blocking and obscuring of the photos, and has become defensive and procrastinated, leading to the stagnation of a large amount of pornographic, filthy pictures.

Beijing’s Internet self-discipline organization asked Baidu to make a public apology.

Related Topics: Legal: Censorship | Search Engines: Baidu

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