China censors web access

Chinese authorities have conducted a purge of more than 200 internet cafes located in the suburbs of the country's second largest city, Shanghai.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said that all the cafes were operating without licenses.

Authorities have vowed to block people accessing "harmful" content on the web, in an effort to prevent young people from being "corrupted" into illegal activities or political dissent.

In laws being pushed through in Beijing, internet cafes have to install software to block restricted websites and record user activities.

Last year, the Chinese authorities reportedly shut down 17,000 internet cafes which failed to install the necessary software. According to Xinhua the 200 closed over the weekend were missed in last year's swoop.

The government bans democracy activists' websites, outlawed groups such as Falung Gong, some foreign news organisations and pornography.