About Technology – China delays internet filter plan

About Technology –

China already has strict controls over the internet

China is delaying a controversial plan requiring all new computers sold in the country to be equipped with an internet filtering software, state media says.

The filter, called Green Dam Youth Escort, was to have been required from Wednesday, but the ministry of industry said computer makers needed more time.

Its planned rollout sparked widespread disapproval inside China, legal challenges and overseas criticism.

Officials say it is designed to shield children from pornography and violence.

The BBC’s Quentin Somerville, in Beijing, says the reversal is an embarrassing climb down for the Chinese government.

A report in Xinhua news agency gave no other details on the decision by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Free speech activists have also criticised the software plan as an attempt to tighten the Chinese government’s already strict controls on the internet.

Tests carried out on Green Dam outside China also showed that it left PCs open to many different security risks.