PMO directs crackdown on internet pornography

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) yesterday directed the concerned authorities to nail those making ‘nude’ cinema and selling pornographic CDs and other such audio-visual material which poses a threat to the society and its social mores.
A letter to this effect has been sent to the secretaries of the ministries of the telecommunications. The PMO has also directed the setting up of mobile courts for conducting special drives across the country to arrest those involved in the trade, sources in the telecommunications ministry disclosed yesterday.
The letter also advised the information secretary to amend the existing film making laws if necessary, the sources added.
In the letter also marked to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the PMO, has directed the regulatory body to initiate steps to block  pornographic sites on the internet.
The letter from the PMO has already seen a flurry of activity. A senior Information ministry official yesterday told ‘The Independent’ that necessary steps have already been initiated to nab the offenders. “The law enforcement agencies had initiated a drive  across the country to arrest culprits selling porno CDs and magazines,” the official added.
“We have already instructed the film makers and the producers recently not to include any ‘obscenities’ in their films,” he said.
When contacted, a BTRC official said that they have initiated steps to block all porno sites on the internet.”
“We have already blocked some porno sites in internet so far,” he said.
Pornography is a thriving business in Bangladesh. They can be found selling obscene material on the roadside in all the major cities of the country – Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi.
The CDs and magazines have a disturbing number of clients among school and college students.
Kiosks and roadside shops selling pornographic CD’s and literature can be found in profusion at different bus and rail stations, launch terminals and hawkers markets in the cities.
Interestingly the sources say, local and Indian CDs have a huge demand selling for a price, ranging from Tk 50 to Tk 200.
Porno CDs of other countries sell at Tk 30 to 50, a seller of the CDs in the Dhaka New Market area, told this reporter.
 
Courtesy of The Independent