China sends animated web police on patrol

Onscreen cartoons remind surfers that web access is constantly monitored

China is planning to send animated police out on the beat in Beijing to remind surfers that their web access is constantly monitored.

The cartoon officials will start patrolling the country's top 13 portal sites every half an hour from 1 September.

By the end of the year, the images of male and female officers will appear on all sites stored on Beijing servers.

The animated officers will give a text warning to users that they are not allowed to access morally or politically threatening content.

Clicking on the images of the officers as they walk or drive across the screen will also allow web users to access security tips on the police authority's website.

"We will continue to promote new images of the virtual police and update our internet security tips in an effort to make the image of the virtual police more user friendly and more in tune with how surfers use the internet," said a statement from the Beijing Public Security Ministry.

The characters were created by popular Chinese web portal Sohu.