Govt to block pornography sites

The government yesterday vowed to block all pornographic sites in order to shield young people from online pornography, predators and offensive social media posts.

The move confirmed by the Information Minister, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, came just hours after Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa tasked the government to block all pornographic sites, which he said expose children to huge amounts of inappropriate information at an early stage.

Mr Tayebwa made the remarks yesterday while officiating at the high-level policy makers engagement on financing for young people, organised by the Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Children (UPFC) in Kampala, adding that the government should regulate sites where children could watch adult content.

“Our children are exposed to cartoons of violence, our teens are exposed to pornography. In Muslim countries, pornography is blocked. Tell me how much we can lose as an economy if we blocked pornography sites in the country. Pornography is killing us,” Mr Tayebwa remarked.

The Deputy Speaker also directed the Minister of Youth and Children Affairs to liaise with other ministries, including that of ICT and National Guidance to borrow a leaf from Muslim countries that have successfully blocked access to pornographic sites to underage children.

Pornography websites comprise businesses that distribute erotic and sexually explicit content through the Internet. 

Mr Tayebwa also urged parents to go back to the African belief that a child is brought up by the community. 
Youth and Children Affairs State minister Sarah Nyirabashitsi Mateke decried the little funding allocated to her ministry.

“As I speak now, this financial year, you have given me Shs20m for street children. That means every quarter, I have Shs5 million. What can I do with Shs5m?” the minister wondered.

Ms Margaret Makhoha, the UPFC chairperson, said Uganda has no single budget for child protection, but rather allocations are subsumed in various programmes, sub-programmes and activities across the different government ministries, departments, and agencies. 

She said the multi-agency nature of child protection is an obstacle to the emergence of coherent, integrated child protection systems, and an even greater obstacle to developing management information systems for child protection.

Makhoha implored sector players to ensure that children’s issues are a priority in the country. 

Dr Baryomunsi told this publication in a telephone interview that the Deputy Speaker’s request to block pornography sites is a genuine one and it will be considered.