UPDATE 2-China targets big websites in Internet crackdown

(Adds Google response and Chinese censorship critic's comment)

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING, Jan 5 (Reuters) - China has launched a crackdown on websites as the country enters a politically sensitive year, with officials accusing search engines including Baidu (BIDU.O) and Google (GOOG.O) of spreading pornography and vulgarity.

A report on an official news website (www.china.com.cn) said repeated violators and those that had a "malign influence" might be exposed, punished or shut down.

China's Ministry of Public Security and six other government agencies announced the campaign at a meeting on Monday, state television reported, showing officials hauling digital equipment away from one unidentified office.

The meeting "decided to launch a nationwide campaign to clean up a vulgar current on the Internet and named and exposed a large number of violating public morality and harming the physical and mental health of youth and young people," the report said.

The 19 Internet operators and websites named at the meeting had failed to swiftly purge "vulgar" content and ignored warnings from censors, the television report said.

Baidu dominates the Chinese web search market with about two-thirds of the audience. Google Inc, the global market leader, is a distant number two in China.

Cui Jin, a Google public relations officer in Beijing, said she had no comment on the report, but added the company abided by regulations.