Over 85 porn websites to be blocked

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

Steps will be taken to block 87 pornography websites of the internet that have harmful effects on school children following an order by the Juvenile Magistrate's Court at Battaramulla, Police Media Spokesman, Superintendent of Police Prishantha Jayakody told the Sunday Observer.

The spokesman said that the harmful nature of 87 pornography websites dentified by the Police Women and Children's Bureau officers have been brought to the notice of the Juvenile Court.

The Magistrate had directed the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to block the 87 websites.

On a previous occasion too the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission had blocked 275 phonographic websites following an order by the Juvenile Court.

"It is almost an impossible task to block thousands of such pornographic sites on the internet that school children have access to on their 3G mobile phones which they buy in the open market. Today most students have 3G phones to browse pornographic sites on the internet." sources said.

A random survey carried out among 40 school boys in a leading school in Colombo revealed that 39 of them had mobile phones. Of the 19 students had 3G mobile phones that can access pornography web sites on the internet. The Police Women and Children's Bureau along with the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has launched an investigation to identify pornographic websites that are detrimental to school children, to block them out on a court order with assistance from the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.