Authorities are installing video cameras and high-tech software in Shanghai's Internet cafes and bars to make sure customers don't look at forbidden Web sites, a state-run newspaper reported Thursday.
The new controls — part of a crackdown also aimed at keeping children out of such places — will begin in all of Shanghai's 1,325 Internet hangouts by the end of June, the Shanghai Daily newspaper quoted an official with the Shanghai Culture, Radio, Film and TV Administration as saying.
The equipment will be used to "spot illegal activities immediately," it quoted the official, Yu Wenchang, as saying.
If the software detects a computer user reading a banned site, it will automatically send a message to a "remote supervisory center," the report said.
Off-limits Web sites are those deemed pornographic or "superstitious," the report said, giving as an example those with information about the banned Falun Gong spiritual group.
Authorities are known to have installed filters aimed at preventing access to such sites, as well as those that criticize the government or the Communist Party.
Dozens of people have been sentenced to prison for posting or downloading such materials.
The new software will require all computer users in Internet cafes or bars to enter their identification card numbers — or, in the case of foreigners, passport numbers — the report said.
Internet facilities caught violating rules that bar those under age 16 face fines of $1,815 for a first offense. Business licenses will be suspended for a second violation and revoked for a third.