Regulating internet content today is viewed as an anti-democratic practice but Southeast Asian governments seem able to justify it by invoking the need to save the young from the scourge of indecent sexual behavior.
Indonesia’s plan to filter web of “bad” content through its Multimedia Content Screening team was shelved last February after it was opposed by the public. Today, the proposal is being revived in the wake of a celebrity sex tape scandal which continues to shock both the young and old in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. After enacting an anti-pornography law two years ago, Indonesia now wants to enforce an internet blacklist in response to the demand of conservative voices to protect the morals of the young.
A similar celebrity sex scandal hounded the Philippines last year which paved the way for the passage of an anti-voyeurism law. The internet was also blamed for the instant dissemination of the sex tapes which prodded lawmakers to craft a cybercrime bill.
In Cambodia, the government is proposing to establish a state-run exchange point to control all local internet service providers which is intended to strengthen internet security against pornography, theft and other cybercrimes. The draft regulation is not yet final but it is expected that the government will seriously pursue this measure especially after it recently became almost helpless in stopping the cell phone and internet uploading of an illegally taped video of nude ladies bathing in a monastery.
Southeast Asian governments do no always need sex scandals to censor the web since they can always cite other reasons, like national security, to filter and monitor internet content. For example, Thailand became the first country in the world to shut down 100,000 websites for containing “dangerous” material. It punishes bloggers, writers and website administrators for violating the lese majeste law. Vietnam was accused by Google and McAfee of launching cyber attacks against some websites, specifically websites that advocate opposition to bauxite mining, a controversial issue in the country.
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