FIJIANS are spending a huge amount of time watching porn.
Parliament heard yesterday that in three months, Fijians accessing porn sites had used 626.13 tetrabites (TB) of data which is equivalent to reading 100 million books over the same period.
Deputy Prime Minister and National Taskforce to Address Pornography chairman Manoa Kamikamica, said pornography “is a silent epidemic that is shaping Fiji’s digital world and impacting countless”.
He added that more than 3600 cases of child sexual abuse material were reported last year to the United States National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Pornography is a silent epidemic that is shaping Fiji’s digital world and impacting countless lives, says Mr Kamikamica.
“The last time I took the floor when we discussed this issue, I had shared that when we talk about the web traffic to pornographic sites, for one network provider, over a period of three months, 626.13TB of data consumed was related to adult content and porn alone – ranking one of the top 10 most used data traffic,” said Mr Kamikamica.
“To put this in context, 626.13TB (Tetrabytes) is approximately equal to the amount of data stored in 100 million books.
“Or imagine having a collection of movies that would take over 150 years to watch non-stop, even if you watched one movie every single day.
“We can see that adult content and pornography have carved out a significant presence, consuming a substantial portion of network traffic.
“The numbers don’t lie. Though it is impossible to put any realistic numbers on how much of the internet is made up of adult content, the industry is huge.
“It’s a silent epidemic, shaping our digital world and impacting countless lives.”
He said this was not only a national issue but a global issue as well.
“Last year, 245 electronic service providers made over 35 million reports of suspected Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) on their platform.
“According to INHOPE in 2023, 83 per cent of child abuse victims reported to it were aged three to 13 years old.
“Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database showed that in 2018, 65 per cent of unidentified victims were girls and 93 per cent of visual offences were male.”
He said the establishment of the national taskforce was a powerful demonstration of the Coalition Government’s commitment to action.
“It’s a tangible step towards safeguarding our communities and protecting our most vulnerable citizens.”