Mahathir calls for Internet to be censored

It is time to filter Internet content due to rampant abuse in the distribution of pornography, questionable news and slander, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said in the past, youths and children could not lay their hands on pornographic pictures and videos, but with the Internet, they could see them anywhere.

Nude and sexually-explicit pictures then were only published in foreign newspapers and magazines, but their distribution could be blocked. This is unlike the Internet, which allows for unfettered distribution and at a fast speed, he said at the 16th Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten) convocation in Bangi today.

He said the distribution of explicit material on the Internet had contributed greatly to moral decay among youths and children and this has led to a sharp increase in sexual assaults and rapes as well as other criminal cases.

"Maybe some individuals are learning how to commit murder and robbery from the Internet as some pictures and videos uploaded display extreme violence that could have affected the community," he said.

He said although the government had promised not to restrict Internet use at the outset, the changing situation warranted it as the spread of offensive material through the medium could also threaten national security. - Bernama