Beijing decided Monday that it will delay the mandatory installation of a filtering software on all computers sold in China that was scheduled to begin on July 1.

The government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) told the official Xinhua News Agency that the delay in enforcing the decree to plant the controversial “Green Dam Youth Escort” software, came after “some computer producers said such a massive installation demanded extra time to prepare”.

However, the ministry did not set a date for when the decree to install the filter would come into effect.

A spokesman from MIIT told reporters that the ministry will continue to provide free downloads of the software, and will begin to equip school and Internet café computers with it soon.

The spokesman reiterated Monday that the filter is useful to block porn and violent content on the Internet in order to protect minors, but many in China and abroad have complained that it would possibly hurt privacy and user choice. Some have alleged that the filter could hamstring free flow of information.

By People's Daily Online