China is taking more stringent actions against rogue Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to ensure the online security of its citizens. The main aim of this exercise is to stop the broadcast of websites which are currently banned in China. Some of these prominent websites are Google, Twitter and Facebook.

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The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a statement to address the concerns regarding the crackdown. The statement has been posted on the ministry website since Tuesday. The ministry said that it plans to carry out the campaign till the end of March, 2018.

The new regulation imposes strict penalties on individuals and corporations using cables or VPNs without appropriate regulatory approvals or qualifications. However, the ministry has not provided clear guidelines about cracking down on such illegal use outside the mainland.

The guidelines are also not clear about the VPN providers which are not based in China. Earlier this week, the ministry had announced that all special cable and VPN services on the mainland needed to obtain prior government approval. The move had rendered most of the VPN services providers illegal.

The notice for the crackdown stated, "China's internet connection industry faces a rare opportunity for development, But the signs of disorderly development are also evident." The country had earlier passed a broad national security law in 2015. The law had required key internet and information systems to be "secure and controllable."

It is believed that more than 100 websites out of the top 1000 most popular websites in the world are banned in China. 

TagsVPN, china, Facebook