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oted Islamic scholar Azyumardi Azra urged the government on Thursday to take down websites with violent or terroristic content because they could threaten the country'€™s security and unity.

Azyumardi said recently that many websites contained themes of violence, radicalism and terrorism, and that these websites had spread on the Internet and furthermore that they could be easily accessed by anyone.

'€œThe government should monitor them or take them down as they contain negative content,'€™ Azyumardi said on Thursday in Jakarta as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Azyumardi, who is also director of the postgraduate program at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, advised the government to act prudently and take down the websites.

He explained that the governments of China and the United States actively take down all websites containing violent and radical notions.

'€œIt'€™s inevitable that the Internet will broadcast violent and radical notions,'€ he added.

People tended to engage in violent actions after watching radical notions broadcast over and over again through the Internet, he said.

In March of this year, the Communications and Information Ministry took down 19 Islamic websites that allegedly contained violent and radical notions.

The ministry'€™s decision to take down the websites was based on a report from the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).

The ministry'€™s decision to take down the websites later raised public outcry as it was seen as a threat to freedom of speech.