The Office of Censorship will now formulate a final draft Internet Policy following the successful combined consultation workshop held today in Port Moresby.
The workshop gauged views from various stakeholders including government agencies like Police, Customs, National Identification Project, National Research Institute, National Information & Communications Technology Authority (NICTA) and the private sectors, to come up with a better way to formulate the policy.
Most of the participants spoke about the disadvantages of the internet and why internet filtration must be included in the policy to avoid children having access to illegal sites.
Chief Censor Steven Mala said internet filtering is a significant idea that will protect the youths and children from cyber-crimes.
“We will not restrict the public’s freedom to information but the filtering concept ensures that we reduce the level and type of information that can be accessed.
“It may seem impossible to control information from the internet but we can’t use that as an excuse as we have to protect our cultural beliefs and our children, at an extent, from Western influence,” Mala said.
Secretary for Religion, Youth and Community Development Anna Solomon pointed out that parents must take ownership of the issue and take responsibility of what their kids have access to.
Once the final draft of the policy is completed, taking into consideration all the discussions, it will be distributed to the stakeholders that participated in the workshop for commentary.
The draft policy will then be finalised and later presented to the government to be endorsed.