KUCHING, Sept 8: Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) is calling upon the government to formulate stricter laws to eradicate the viewing and sharing of child pornography in Malaysia.
PBM Youth chief Na’im Brundage said the Dewan Rakyat recently announced that there are over 106,000 Malaysian-registered internet IP addresses suspected of sharing child pornography.
He said this figure is greatly disturbing and warrants urgent attention as children are among the most vulnerable groups and every effort must be made to protect them.
“The internet is swarming with pornographic material, with easily over 500,000 related websites and 370 million pages.
“In fact, reports have stated that every second, over 30,000 internet users are viewing porn, while 68 million people search for porn material every day.
“Internet porn is easily accessible, affordable and anonymous, with easy internet access via social media, email and mobile apps and the average age of first exposure to porn is as young as 11-years-old,” he said in a statement today.
In view of this, Na’im also called on the government to enhance the Royal Malaysian Police’s (PDRM) Sexual, Women and Children Crime Investigation Division (D11) and the Malaysian Internet Crime Against Children (MICAC) investigation units to play a more effective role in tackling crimes involving children.
He said according to the D11 unit, browsing activities, including uploading and downloading of the child pornography have been increasing every year.
Adding on, he said parents play a key role in guiding their children and educating them against pornography while those who suffer from porn addiction should themselves come forward to seek help.
“The increasing trend in child pornography is very worrying and apart from organising more awareness campaigns and programmes, the related laws must be enhanced to provide harsher penalties against offenders.
“Each and every individual must play a key role towards ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our children and PBM strongly supports every effort to put an end to all forms of pornography,” said Na’im. — Dayakdaily
