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Minister Tifatul wants local administrations to ban porn
Jakarta Post - May 26, 2014
Tifatul said during a visit to Padang, West Sumatra, that so far, only one provincial administration had imposed such a ban, namely Central Kalimantan.
"It is time for the West Sumatra governor to pass a bylaw that will ban access to pornographic websites," Tifatul said as quoted by Antara news agency.
He said West Sumatra could set an example for other provinces by passing such a bylaw, as the province had a reputation as being a hub of refined culture and civility.
Tifatul also suggested that harsh penalties should be meted out to proprietors of Internet cafes found guilty of providing access to pornographic sites.
"Just as in Central Kalimantan, the governor could directly issue an instruction to shut down any Internet cafe that failed to adhere to the bylaw," he said.
Tifatul added that the government would be stepping up its measures to crack down on pornographic websites in the near future. "For websites, we have the authority to crack down on them. We will block all pornographic content," he said.
He explained that the blocking of pornographic sites was to protect the country's younger generation from moral pollution. He then cited his oft-quoted argument for banning porn: "Every time you look at pornography, five of your brain cells die," he said.
Tifatul's statement came only days after he caused an outcry after deciding to ban video-sharing site Vimeo, claiming that it ran "pornographic" content.
The site, which was founded in 2004, was the first video-sharing site to support high definition, and was widely used by independent musicians and filmmakers to advertise their work.
The ministry said that its research into the site had found 7,712 videos tagged as "Nudie Cutie"; 6,915 titled the "Art of Nakedness", and 1,186 as the "Beauty of Nakedness".
The ministry said the ban was based on the controversial 2008 Pornography Law, which defines pornography as, among other things, displays of "nudity or nude-like features" and human genitalia.
Many have accused Tifatul of issuing the ban against Vimeo in retaliation after the site hosted a fake campaign video of a legislative candidate from his political party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), featuring a dangdut singer performing sexy dance moves. Tifatul has denied the accusation.
Tifatul, whose term is expected to expire in October, is no stranger to controversy, due primarily to some of his statements made on Twitter, where he has more than 700,000 followers.
In February, Tifatul made a quip in response to a global report that said the country's Internet was the second-slowest in the world. "Dear tweeps, if we had a faster Internet connection speed, then what would we use it for?" he posted on his Twitter account, @tifsembiring.
Previously, in 2010, he made a joke about AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) patients. In a tweet, Tifatul said that AIDS stood for Akibat Itunya Ditaruh Sembarangan, which translates into English as, "caused by the reckless use of one's penis".
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