AP: Senior Chinese official says tougher measures needed to keep Falun Gong off TV and the Internet

BEIJING - China plans to tighten controls over television and the Internet, in a clampdown prompted by the banned Falun Gong spiritual group' s hijacking of cable and satellite TV systems, a senior Chinese official said Wednesday.

Falun Gong sympathizers embarrassed the government this spring by tapping into local cable TV systems to promote the meditation group, outlawed in China [..]. In June, a state-run satellite system briefly displayed messages of support for the group in a TV broadcast after its signal was hijacked.

Qu Weizhi, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, referred to the widely publicized June incident in a speech to a broadcasting industry conference. [..]

Qu also complained that Falun Gong supporters have used both the Internet and television [..].

The Chinese official said that China had to improve its security technology to address "hidden problems" in the hardware and software used in communication systems.

"We must take effective measures to guarantee information and network security," she said.

Qu said security means protecting computer networks and TV channels not only from hackers, but also from information that "disturbs the stable and united social order." China blocks Web sites containing what it considers hostile political content, including sites dealing with Falun Gong. The government controls all television stations.