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akarta: The Communications and Information Ministry claims it has blocked nearly 1 million sites that carry pornographic content.

Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said the censorship of porn sites was in line with the government’s commitment to provide safe sites accessed by Indonesians and build a more positive character for the nation.

“We’ve blocked more than 983,000 porn sites. We will keep on doing it,” Tifatul said during a seminar on the Healthy and Safe Use of the Internet at the Pullman Hotel in Jakarta on Monday. The seminar was held ahead of International Safe Internet Day, which falls on Friday.

Tifatul added that the censorship would in turn improve people’s ethics in using the Internet for positive purposes.

According to Tifatul, Indonesia is home to 45 million Internet users with the growth in household computer use reaching 25.8 percent per year.

“Censorship and filters will not work if people are determined to look for porn sites,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.

The government has banned online pornography since 2010, since which time the Communications and Information Ministry has ordered local service providers to block access to pornographic websites, a controversial decision because experts doubt its effectiveness.