China targets pop-up windows for spreading harmful information

BEIJING - Chinese government plans to clean up internet pop-up windows that contain pornographic and illegal content, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on Wednesday.

The announcement to clean up pop-ups came after a meeting between CAC,the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration for Industry & Commerce concluded in Beijing on Wednesday.

One of the primary methods of spreading harmful content online, pop-up windows regularly contain pornography and computer viruses, according to an unidentified official with the CAC.

Slated to start in the near future, authorities will push operators to edit and supervise the contents of pop-up windows on their websites, a statement issued following the meeting said.

A stricter protocol will also be imposed for operators installing pop-ups. They are banned from using the method to advertise without the consent of users and users should be able to close these windows by one click.

Operators are also urged not to install "too many" as to avoid souring the users experience. The statement, however, did not define what was "too many".

According to the CAC, 1,200 commonly used programs or websites have installed pop-up advertisements and about 500 of them pop up more than 1,000 advertisements daily.

The CAC welcomes the public to tip off malpractice regarding pop-up windows, the statement said.