16 Jul 2018

All Samoans must protect children from porn - regulator

4:25 pm on 16 July 2018

It is the responsibility of all Samoans to ensure young people are protected from internet pornography, the country's telecommunications regulator says.

Lefaoali'i Unutoa Auelua-Fonoti told the Samoa Observer that she was concerned by the accessibility of internet pornography to children.

Her comments followed criticism from Samoan Supreme Court judge Vui Clarence Nelson, a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, who attacked internet service providers for not funding advocacy and awareness programmes to protect children from pornography.

Lefaoali'i said the matter was the crux of 2016 discussions between the Attorney General's Office, the Office of the Regulator and a multitude of stakeholders.

These resulted in the production of a policy commonly referenced as the Child Sexual Abuse Material Policy, she said.

A safe online environment could be attained if all stakeholders were united and pooled their resources, capacity and knowledge, Lefaoali'i said.

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