Block porn sites permanently: Sociologist

Jakarta, NU Online
North Sumatra University sociologist Badaruddin has urged the government to permanently block porn sites in the internet and not only during the Ramadan fasting month.

“It is expected that the porn sites will no longer appear in the internet permanently in Indonesia,” Badaruddin said in Medan, North Sumatra, on Monday evening as quoted by the Antara news agency.<<>br />
Badaruddin, who is also a lecturer at the university, made the remarks in response to a recent statement by Minister of Information and Communication Tifatul Sembiring that up to four million porn sites will be blocked as soon as possible.

The plan will be done following an agreement between the government and all internet service providers in the country. “All internet providers have agreed to block the porn sites in the internet,” Tifatul said.

According to data at the ministry of information and communication, all 200 companies handling the internet services agreed earlier to block the port sites before Ramadan.

Badaruddin said that the closure of the porn sites has helped reduce the number of adolescent and school students from opening the pornographic pictures which tend to cause losses to them.

The closure of the porn sites enables students to open the internet in search for learning materials related to school assignments, he said.

Previously many of students, who went to the internet stalls, simply wanted to open the sites with pornographic contents.

“If such a condition is left without any control, it will not only disturb their studies, but also damage their morality and mentality as a new generation of the country,” he added. (dar)