China says it will crack down on search engine giants, Google and Baidu, if they continue the spreading of pornography and vulgar content.
China's Ministry of Public Security and six other government agencies announced the crackdown at a meeting on Monday.
"The vulgar trend has deeply harmed the mental and physical health of the young generation," an official Chinese statement said.
"For those websites that repeatedly ignore warnings, we will publicize a few, punish a few and even close down a few," Cai Mingzhao, deputy chief of the cabinet's Information Office, said in the statement.
"Many parents are calling out: 'Save our children'. They want the government to take drastic action," the statement noted.
It added some websites had taken advantage of government policies and loopholes to publish 'low-class, crude and even vulgar contents, which severely corrupt the public mentality', reported Press TV .
China named Google as having failed to take action on government complaints that its search engine results contained a 'massive number of links to pornographic web sites'.
Baidu is the most popular search engine in China, followed by Google, and it has been similarly accused of linking to obscene sites.
The statement also named popular Web portals Sina and Sohu, as well as a number of video sharing sites and online bulletin boards, that it said contain problematic photos, blogs and postings.