BEIJING, CHINA — Chinese authorities on Wednesday shut down an additional 84 websites, bringing the total closed since January 1st to 175.The Chinese State Council’s Information Office, the public security and culture ministries and four other government agencies on January 5th launched a month-long offensive against online pornography and vulgarity. The Special Operation Office for the Crackdown on Online Porn and Lewd Content said Wednesday its efforts are “stepping up” and it intends not only to close additional websites, but also to mete out “severe penalties” to webmasters and companies that violate Chinese law.

Distribution of pornography is illegal in China, which reportedly overtook the United States in 2008 as the country with the largest number of internet users: 298 million.

Major websites blacklisted in the country include Google, Baidu and MSN China, all of which were accused of responding too slowly to official requests to delete pornographic materials.