Chinese firms support censorship of the internet

The heads of China's largest technology firms have endorsed Beijing's plan to boost controls of online social media.

China's internet companies and operators have reached a "common agreement" to curb the spread of rumours online, online pornography, internet fraud "and the illegal spread of harmful information on the internet".

In late October, China vowed to strengthen its administration of the internet.

Beijing is nervous about the boom in microblogs, called "weibo" in Chinese and the potential which they have to tear at the seams of government censorship and controls. REUTERS