AMMAN — Dozens of Jordanians demonstrated on Sunday, urging the government to block pornographic websites in the Kingdom.
The participants, who included parents, young activists and children, said blocking pornographic websites is a necessity to prevent "any negative physical or psychological impact on the younger generation”.
"The government should immediately instruct telecom companies and Internet Services Providers to block these websites," Ammar Al Saket, a father of two who launched a campaign on Facebook to block pornographic sites, told The Jordan Times during the demonstration near the Eighth Circle, where the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is located.
"The majority of those who use the Internet in Jordan are children and young people. Sometimes when Internet users surf the web looking for some educational, historical or scientific information, a link or a window appears with pornographic content," Saket said during the protest.
"Pornographic sites are blocked at universities, schools and public entities. The government should block these sites completely," he said.
Ahlam Sbeihat, a professor of Spanish at the University of Jordan, agreed.
"Internet connection is available everywhere nowadays. The young can connect to the Internet using their mobiles, laptops, PCs at home and in cafés and anywhere they want," she told The Jordan Times during the demonstration.
"Not blocking pornographic sites in Jordan is a major concern for families in Jordan. These sites are against our Arab and Islamic values and traditions and blocking them is a must," Sbeihat said.
"Some people do not want these sites blocked, saying it is a matter of personal freedom. But these sites violate our values and traditions and should be blocked," she said.
Several mothers took part in the protest along with their children.
Um Saleh, a mother of three, said she wants these sites blocked because they "contradict Islam".
"My eldest son is 12 years old. He uses the Internet at home to do homework and look for information. But I am always afraid that a link with adult content or a pornographic site will pop up while he is using the Internet," she told The Jordan Times.
"The government should block these sites because if young people watch these sites, they will be addicted and that will affect their health and way of thinking. If the government does not block these sites, it means it wants to destroy my children and the way I raised them," Um Saleh charged.
The Facebook campaign, which was launched in February to pressure the concerned authorities to block such sites in the Kingdom, had drawn 33,984 fans by Sunday.
George says:
Are we in Saudi Arabia? This is ridiculous. Watch your kids when they are on a computer or cellphone. Problem solved.
Petra says:
Nobody is forcing them to visit these kinds of sites and there are many ways to prevent children from logging on to them. NO to internet censorship!
fares taamneh says:
i dont agree with petra or George, we are free in a different way in jordan ,it is our responsibility to watch over our kids .we are not a selfish nation.somethings are free and some are not.it is immoral.we should stop this now before it,s to late,we are not limting rights but rather setting standards for morality .porn is a cancer to every country in the world.thing are gitting worse when it comes to that.
Sane Person says:
Stop passing the buck and be real parents to their kids? They should stop blaming the government, and grow up and take charge of their responsibility! Asking the gov to do this takes away personal choice, if i want to go to these site, why can't i? Its my choice, if they dont want their kids going to these site. Dont have the internet at home, or supervise their kids on the web. Please, people like this need banning not internet pages, they obviously have nothing better to do!
Veena says:
I'd say NO (emphatically) to pornography and immorality and YES to internet censorship if it keeps my children safe! Criss Jami, the writer, philosopher, and rock band singer couldn't have expressed it better when he said, “I find it a challenge to cooperate in a society where it's considered moral to critique a résumé yet immoral to critique morality.”
vertigo says:
Try parenting. It works. Some people who are too lazy to each their own children want the govt. To parent for them at the expense of others freedoms. Only a fool would publicly announce they don't keep track of their own kids.
Ammani says:
I know this country doesn't have 'freedom of speech' built into its government, but it never makes any sense to block the freedom of other people for your own benefit. Like the previous commentators said, keep a better eye on your children and there ARE parent controls that can be downloaded to better regulate your own family's online browsing.
carlos says:
Maybe these parents should stop leaving the maids in charge of their kids 24/7? My neighbor's version of morality may be different than my own, yet that does not make my views wrong nor his correct. If you can't handle certain aspects of the Internet, then don't get Internet at all. NO to Internet censorship!
Dust says:
You shouldn't force this on people.For example look at how the saudis are living. When they come to Jordan, they talk about every single girl that passes by, its disgusting We already have the people who treat women like crap.
Dust says:
I don't want to generalize the Saudis but majority of them are desperate.Restricting the young people will just make them curious and do things that are worse. In addition to restriction to pornographic sites, they have encouraged the ministry to think about blocking social media sites.