The President has directed that all adult content websites on the internet be blocked at the internet service providers’ (ISP) distribution points, in order to protect children and minors from inappropriate website materials. Those who want unlimited access to the internet would have to pay the ISPs an extra charge.
This is not a national issue. Only a handful of educated people have access to the internet in their homes, and so only a minority of Sri Lankan children are exposed to the dangers of the “information superhighway”. However, almost every schoolchild in this country is exposed to “kudu” or “babul”, which is often available in the vicinity of the school, and sometimes even at the school gate.
Which of the two is the greater danger to children, and which of the two should be the higher priority for our law enforcers – the “kudu” menace or adult internet content? In the case of the internet, parents have control over the internet packages they purchase from the ISPs.
Internet cafes do good business because they have closed cubicles, where schoolchildren can access adult internet content. But now these internet cafes are being strictly supervised, and adult fare is blocked out and cannot be downloaded.
When a family decides to buy a computer and introduce the internet to their homes, they do so in the full knowledge that they are exposing themselves to everything the internet has to offer, which includes text, images and video or movie footage. The content ranges from information to entertainment. Parents should have control over the tools and facilities they bring into the home.
The internet service providers should block adult fare and not impose an extra levy on internet users.
Why should the President be involved in this trifling matter? Is it on the recommendation of his advisers, who are trying to raise money by imposing another tax to compensate for money spent during the SAARC summit?
Mr. President, we educated parents know how to control our children at home, whether they are using the internet or any other facility. Please take an interest in our children’s safety in public places, such as on the roads, at bus stands, railway stations, inside buses and trains, at cinemas, in amusement parks and, of course, within the walls of the schools, where many dubious activities take place under the very noses of the administrators – and even the police.
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