Indonesia blocks 4,000 porn sites

The Indonesian government on Wednesday announced that it is blocking access to four million pornography sites on the Internet following continuing calls from the public to protect the nation's youth from the dangers of smut.

The censoring is across the board and encompasses any material deemed pornographic, including nudity, explicit sex whether heterosexual or not, sex organs and pornographic symbols.

Indonesia's Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said the step taken in conjunction with the holy month of Ramadan, was in line with the country's anti-pornographic laws that were passed on October 30, 2008.

"Right this moment, around 90 per cent of such sites are being blocked, we will carry out the blocking exercise in stages until all are blocked," he told a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

These sites have been blamed by the Indonesian public as the cause of the moral decay currently taking place among young Indonesians.

Tifatul added that the move would be retained even after Ramadan and as long as the anti-pornography laws are in force.