China Bans Lady Gaga Hits as 'Security' Threat

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Chinese officials have ordered music by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and other pop stars to be deleted from download sites because the tunes could be threats to the country's "cultural national security."

The country's Ministry of Culture ordered that a list of 100 songs -- including Lady Gaga's Judas and Perry's Last Friday Night -- be purged from Chinese Web sites by September 15 because they have never been submitted for mandatory government screening, according to the Associated Press. A total of six Lady Gaga songs are on the list -- all of them from her latest album.

Even the pop boy band The Backstreet Boyswas not spared the Chinese government's wrath as the group's 12-year-old ballad I Want It That Way also made the list.

While not outlining specific penalties, the ministry said the operators of sites not deleting targeted songs would be punished. The Chinese government carefully screens imported entertainment content for political messages or commentary viewed as threatening to China's "national cultural security."