Ministry of Culture Outlaws Online Mafias
On July 27, 2009, the Ministry of Culture Issued the “Circular on Investigation into ‘Gangs’ and Other Illegal Online Games”. The Circular notes that some popular online games based on the themes of gangs, the mafia, or “godfather” concepts advocate obscenity, gambling, or violence and undermine morality and traditional Chinese culture. It goes on to note that these games encourage people to deceive, loot, kill, and glorify the lives of gangsters, providing a negative influence on youngsters. The Ministry of Culture has prohibited websites from running, publicizing, or offering such online games, and has also ordered its law enforcement bodies to step up oversight and harshly punish any sites that continue to offer such games.
