CHINA'S top Communist Party newspaper has warned that there can be no internet freedom without order.
The claim came as several US TV shows were removed from Chinese video sites. It coincides with a crackdown on online freedom of expression that has intensified since President Xi Jinping came to power last year.
Authorities last week also stepped up their battle against pornography, revoking some online publication licences of one of China's largest internet firms, Sina Corp, for allowing "lewd and pornographic" content.
The People's Daily, the party's main mouthpiece, said: "While ordinary people and governments have enjoyed the conveniences brought by the internet, they have in turn experienced the internet's negative effects and hidden security dangers.
It was published under the pen name Zhong Sheng, meaning Voice of China.
It added: "If you don't have Internet order, how can you have Internet freedom? Anyone enjoying and exercising their internet rights and freedoms must not harm the public interest and cannot violate laws and regulations and public ethics," the paper said.
Four US TV shows, The Big Bang Theory, The Practice, The Good Wife and NCIS, were removed.
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