China's Virtual Cops - Govt. Monitors PCs (GALLERY)

They will walk, bike or drive across the screen every half hour, and with each passing, warn surfers to avoid internet content deemed illegal by China’s government. The animated cartoon police offers will begin on China’s top portals before moving to all sites registered with Beijing servers. It’s a cute scare tactic to remind everyone that the Chinese government is doing everything they can to monitor the private lives of their citizens and that their access to uncensored information is limited.

“China stringently polices the Internet for material and content that the ruling Communist Party finds politically or morally threatening,” Yahoo News reported. “Despite the controls, nudity, profanity, illegal gambling and pirated music, books and film have proliferated on Chinese Internet servers. The male and female cartoon officers, designed for the ministry by Sohu, will offer a text warning to surfers to abide by the law and tips on Internet security as they move across the screen in a virtual car, motorcycle or on foot, it said.”