Blocking illegal sites effective to prevent child porn

A consultative body under the Japanese government has compiled a report concluding that the use of technology to block illegal websites would be an effective way of preventing the spread of child pornography.

A consultative body under the Japanese government has compiled a report concluding that the use of technology to block illegal websites would be an effective way of preventing the spread of child pornography.

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Mandating Internet service providers to block access to objectionable sites would be "one effective method" to crack down on child pornography, the consultative body, set up by the National Police Agency, said yesterday.

Blocking certain websites has been highly controversial as it could result in violating the secrecy of communications protected under the Constitution and the telecommunications law.

Net site operators have admitted blocking is an effective way of preventing child porn but have maintained the measure should be introduced only when children's rights are significantly violated.

The report proposed open discussion on various issues involved in blocking, including under what circumstances the measure would be justifiable.

The report also proposed setting up an organization to manage a list of sites containing child-porn content. It outlined guidelines for the organ to use the list.