THE Papua New Guinea Government is planning to put in place a K2 million internet filter to block access to pornographic websites in the country, officials say.
Government officials yesterday responded to a revelation by Google Trend that Papua New Guinea was the “most pornography-obsessed country in the world”.
It says even though the country has a population of less than eight million and a low rate of internet use, it has the greatest percentage of searches for the words “porn” and “pornography” compared with the nation’s total “searches” online.
Chief censor Steven Mala told The National yesterday, after the news was broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and hit local social networks, that they were not trying to control the medium of communication by introducing the internet filter.
He said the censorship office wanted to filter “the rubbish supplied free online which spoiled the mind-set of the young children of Papua New Guinea”.
Mr Mala said the internet filter was expected to cost K2 million ($F1.534million). But he could not confirm when it would be launched.
The top 10 countries “searching for pornography” are PNG, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana, Zambia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Fiji and Nigeria.
Communications and Information Technology Minister Jimmy Miringtoro could not be reached for comment yesterday. But his public relations officer Chris Baria said they were in the process of dealing with the pornography issue.
“There are just so many people and so many internet providers at the moment that we are still trying to control what comes through on the internet,” he said.
“At the moment, the Government is working with NICTA (National Information and Communication Technology Authority) to establish an ICT network that is more transparent,” he said.
Minister for Youth, Religion and Community Development Delilah Gore said the ministry was drafting legislation to be submitted to Cabinet.
She told The National that the legislation was being reviewed by the Justice and Attorney-General’s Department for the certification of the amended law on censorship and filtration of such materials.
“Basically it’s holding responsible some of our businesses who are selling movies and materials that are pornography in nature,” she said.
“The legislation covers the filtration of movies accessed by our children. That law is in line with the Lukautim Pikinini Act which will allow us to filter these kinds of materials. We are working with the censorship board to put together this legislation. Once the NEC endorses it, we will take it to Parliament.”
She said the Communication Ministry would be responsible for cyber issues. But it was a concern for her ministry given the number of children accessing internet on mobile phones in the country without restriction.
