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Christian Living

chinaconnection 02/09/09

Porn Censors Target Nude Renaissance Art

When it comes to cracking down on Internet pornography, it seems that anything even remotely questionable is safe, not even works by Michelangelo or Titian.  After shutting down 1,635 websites and 217 blogs in the first month of its Internet crackdown, Chinese censors have expanded their anti-vulgarity campaign to include great works of art.   

As Under the Jacaranda Tree  reports, one art-loving blogger received a message from Douban.com informing him that the photos under his “Renaissance” file had been deleted because they didn’t comply with Douban’s policies. These offensive photos, were simply various photographs of Renaissance art that was just a little too risqué for the sensibilities of China’s censors.

Within 36 hours, more than two thousand bloggers had launched their own anti-anti-vulgarity campaign, creating more than 300,000 images of modified works of art. David is now more sensibly dressed in a Mao suit, and Adam has socks and a tie to give him a little more covering. 

Somehow I don’t quite think these are the images Michelangelo had in mind, and I don't quite think it was the censors had in mind, either. 

After the initial protest, Douban.com rescinded its ban on the initial Renaissance images, but the website that has links to several of the Internet parodies isn't functioning very well, either.

Perhaps those pictures were the first victims of a covert anti-anti-anti-vulgarity campaign? 
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