Dr M: Block access to Internet porn
2010/07/29
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KUALA LUMPUR: The ease of access to pornographic materials on the Internet is the reason for the rise in sexual crimes in Malaysia, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
"This (the accessibility of pornography) does not have a good effect on the young, excitable people who get worked up watching porn, resort to taking out their pent-up energy on babies and old women."
Addressing the issue in his keynote address "Building a community around your cause by attracting and engaging people" at the Asian Bloggers Social Media Conference 2010 here yesterday, Dr Mahathir said when the Multimedia Super Corridor was set up, the country had made a promise not to censor the Internet.
"I'm having second thoughts now. There's a need to censor some things that appear on the Net, especially access to pornography."
He said, however, Malaysian Netizens should continue to be allowed to have the freedom to voice their opinions on the Internet.
Dr Mahathir said the Internet had opened up opportunities for bloggers to publish without constraints.
"Here is the opportunity for us to make use of the media to communicate and awaken other Netizens' feelings and emotions on any subject, but having the freedom does not mean we can say anything that cannot be substantiated. We must keep to the truth. If we do that, bloggers will become more popular."
Dr Mahathir said this freedom also made blogs useful as the mainstream media was perceived to censor the news.
He acknowledged that there were many things that went unreported by the media due to many reasons, including space constraints.
"Now, if we can't get the news through the mainstream media, we can get them through the blogs. As we have more sources of news, the problem arises as to whether we can identify what is true and what is propaganda."
He said if done with responsibility, bloggers could become as powerful as governments because they could reach people immediately, helping them to form opinions about certain topics.
The Asian Bloggers and Social Media Conference 2010 is a two-day event that ends today.
The conference drew 400 people from across Asia and brought together top bloggers and social media experts to discuss how social media can increase an organisation's bottom-line.
Some of the prominent bloggers and social media experts who gave talks include AirAsia CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, Alt Media general manager Paul Moss and Mindanao Bloggers Community's Oliver "Blogie" Robillo.
Read more: Dr M: Block access to Internet porn http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/14mmblog/Article#ixzz0v2DwRsMt
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