'Hundreds of overseas terror websites seeking Chinese recruits', internet watchdog finds
NGO's internet watchdog flooded with 1,500 tips on online terror activity, but only 230 deemed valid
An internet watchdog received more than 1,500 tips on "terrorist" websites in just over a week, in a further sign of support for the Communist Party’s sweeping crackdown on terror groups and illegal arms.
The China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Centre (CIIRC) has discovered that some of these foreign websites, in Russian, Arabic and Uygur, were recruiting Chinese citizens to receive terrorist training overseas before they are sent back to China to carry out attacks, according to The Beijing News.
The centre had received the tips from netizens in the week ending on June 29, according to the report. The centre was founded in 2010 by a non-governmental internet society.
On June 20, the centre had begun offering bonuses of up to 100,000 yuan (HK$125,900) for those who report terrorist websites and related activity online. The terms of who can qualify for the reward were not specified, however.
The report said that out of 1,500 tips, 165 were red flags about overseas websites while 65 were reports about domestic ones, which include forums, portals and other online pages.
Of this, there were 230 were valid cases.
It was also unclear which state agency the CIIRC was working with in its anti-terror initiative.