The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has started a nationwide crackdown on online videos that contain pornography, violence and other subjects the government has deemed "harmful."

The campaign will run until the end of December, and is intended to clean up content, such as "pornography, violence, terror and rumors, in online videos," it was announced at a joint press conference held by the CAC, and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

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Five key Internet areas will be the focus of the authorities' inspection, including online storage services, and shared video links on social networks and IM platforms, such as Weibo and WeChat. The other three areas are unlicensed video streaming websites, smart TVs and video terminals.

China's largest Internet-related companies have agreed to cooperate with the government's crackdown, as 29 websites have promised to better manage the comments of their users. Cooperating companies include Tencent, Sina Corp and Sohu.Com.

The websites said they would make sure that "their users register, post and write comments with their real identity," according to the commitment letter.

They also "promise to and sincerely ask all users to consciously abide by the 'seven bottom lines' -- law and rules, socialist systems, national interests, citizen's legitimate rights, social public order, morality and authenticity of information -- when posting."

The letter also instructed Chinese web users not to release 18 categories of information that "are against basic principles established by the Constitution," such as information jeopardizing national security, leaking national secrets or instigating ethnic hatred or discrimination.

TagsChina inspects online videos, Porn, violence, Crackdown, Cyberspace Administration of China, Sina Corp, Sohu.Com