Dr M’s smut filter strategy welcomed, says Rais

The Information Communication and Culture Ministry welcomes former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad views on the need to filter pornography on the Internet, said its minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim.

“I greatly welcome Tun’s (Mahathir’s) views because we appear to be alone in voicing out against this negative influence. If more leaders voice out against pornography, the easier it will be for us to tackle this issue.

“There are certain quarters who have doubts about legal provisions to tackle the menace. Actually, we have Section 265 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Comission Act to handle this,” he told reporters after attending a memorial organised by the National Archives for the late Tun Hussein Onn (Malaysia’s third prime minster) at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) here today.

Also present were Tun Hussein’s widow, Tun Suhailah Tan Sri Mohamed Noah Omar, Rais’ wife Datin Seri Masnah Rais, National Archivs director-general Datuk Sidek Jamil and UTHM vice chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Noh Dalimin.

The media recently reported Dr Mahathir as saying that he was becoming increasingly worried about the spread of smut on the Internet and that he felt it should be filtered as it was contributing to the increase in sexual crimes in the country.

Rais said it was still too early to come up with a mechanism to block pornography on the Internet, but nevertheless, discussions in an objective manner would be carried to tackle the problem so that it was not misinterpreted as censoring the Internet.

He said if the source of pornography was from within the country, the authorities could act but at the moment could do very little to prevent its spread if the source was from overseas.

“The is a need for an internal mechanism to check the spread of pornography on the Internet. At the same time, parents too need to do their part to protect children from this scourge,” he added.



comments


rais and tun, you just TURN-OFF YOUR INTERNET ..... that can do already . no need to busy body kacau orang lain freedom of info macam orang kurang ajar !!! what you don't want to know or see doesn't mean we have to follow you like living in ZAMAN DAHULU which you two are pratically doing so !!!

filtering smut sites is good. But unfortunately technology cannot differentiate between smuts and politics. And this old dinosaur will use this chance to filter opposition sites. Do not trust him.
and Internet censorship has already begun. Lots of sites arent working anymore
they actually want to control what you can read on the net. they want to shut out news portals like malaysia today and malaysiakini and other such sites.


Dr. M brought smut to our homes through TV, Radio, Newspapers, Internet, etc when he framed Anwar and took him through the courts. And now he plays the saint? BN politicians are sleazeballs - Just look at all the lurid cases of sex, greed and corruption that envelope their miserable political careers!

Internet is not the sole reason. You have porn vcd/dvd pedlars in every coffee shop but no action taken. Ask you to teach sex education, you rejected. You don't arrest and charge porn stars to set as example, instead you glorify them by giving and endorsing them with high positions. Parents busy making ends meet, no time to guide or teach their kids. Cyber cafe flourishing with gambling and sex games. Lastly, lock the computer in your room when you are not at home. Don't always because of others' irresponsibility, you pass more laws to control us in the guise of protecting them. Why the good citizens always suffer from other people's irresponsibilities?