Internet cafes shut in Vietnam for porn, politics

September 20, 2004

Hanoi - Authorities in southern Vietnam have shut down 65 Internet cafes and kiosks after finding hundreds of addresses of pornographic and anti-government Web sites on their computers, a newspaper reported on Friday.

The communist government recently intensified efforts to control use of the Internet by requiring customers of Internet cafes to register their identities and making cafe owners monitor the sites customers visit.

Last month, authorities set up a special police unit to investigate online crime and curb the distribution of banned material in cyberspace.

The 65 Internet outlets were shut down over the past two weeks in the bustling commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, the city-run Phap Luat (Laws) newspaper said.

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