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Muhammadiyah calls for govt to block porn on Google and Youtube
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Children play online games at an internet kiosk in Tangerang, Banten, on May 17. (Antara/Lucky R)
T
he Surabaya branch of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Muslim organization, has called for the government to shut down porn sites accessible via Google and YouTube in response to recent cases of sexual violence against children.
Dozens of members from the Surabaya branch and the Muhammadiyah Student Association held a rally at the Grahadi State Building in Surabaya in East Java on Tuesday demanding that the Communications and Information Ministry shut down access to pornography to Indonesian internet users.
Some 50 protestors highlighted several high-profile rape cases at the rally, such as the gruesome rape and murder of 14-year-old YY from Bengkulu, as well as a case of sexual violence against a 4-year-old in Surabaya carried out by eight young people. Both cases displayed a common thread, Muhammadiyah Surabaya secretary M. Arief An argued, saying that the perpetrators had reportedly watched porn before committing their crimes.
"Such cases are very worrying, this is a pornography emergency," Arief said during his speech at the protest as quoted by Tempo.co on Tuesday.
The increasing number of sexual violence cases against children is an example of the negative impact of easily accessible pornographic images and films online, the protestors argued.
"Immediately block porn sites on Google and Youtube," Arief added.
Muhammadiyah Surabaya will hand an ultimatum to Google and Youtube Indonesia to shut down pornographic sites within one week, Arief said, saying that tactical steps would be taken if their demands were rejected.
A similar request, lodged by the Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association (ICMI), also urged the Communications and Information Ministry to block Google and YouTube last week for "promoting violent and pornographic content". The demand was met with a sour response from the ministry. The ministry said it was impossible to block the internet giants. (liz/rin)
