Almost 2,000 internet cafes have been closed down by the Chinese government in the latest move to bring the world wide web under control.
More than 6,000 other cyber cafes have been ordered to suspend their operations or change the way they give access to the net.
Monitoring
The cafes are popular in China where the internet is closely monitored by the communist authorities. People who post anti-government messages or who look at 'forbidden' sites have been tracked down and arrested.
Words like Taiwan, Tibet and the banned spiritual group Falun Gong trigger a reaction.
The number of internet bars and cafes has grown steeply since 1997. The government says there are 26.5 million internet users - an increase of four million in the past six months.
Porn
More than 56,000 internet cafes or bars have been inspected since April when the authorities began their investigation into cyber cafes.
Chinese law bans "socially destabilising content" breaches of public security, "divulging state secrets" and internet pornography.