CAIRO: Egypt's ultra-conservative al-Nour religious party said on its Facebook page on Monday that the party's MP Younis Makhioun has put forward a request for an “urgent briefing” to ban pornography websites from the Internet in Egypt. The request is expected to be discussed shortly in Egypt's lower house. The news saw praise and condemnation alike from Egyptians as many commentators showed support and urged for the ban to be passed, while others objected on the loss of personal freedoms. Others feared that it would not stop at pornography sites, but would go on to crackdown on other websites conservatives believe go against their creed. On May 12, 2009, the administrative court ordered both the minister of communication and the national committee to regulate communication to ban pornography websites in Egypt, after a lawsuit called them “complicit” in spreading vice and conducting harm to society. The court based its decision on what it called “the harm that this material [can] cause to the fabric of the family.” However, the ministry of communication said it could not comply to the court order, as it is a personal responsibility that lies with the individual user online. Statistics and reports conducted regarding the use of the Internet to view pornography material suggest that every second 28,258 people around the world are watching pornography online. Almost $3,075.64 is spent on these websites at that time. Shockingly, a new adult film is being produced every 39 minutes in the United States alone. In 2011, Egypt landed in the number five spot globally in searching for “sex” online, joined by Algeria and Morocco also in the top 10, according to Google trends. Arabic language is used second only to English as the language of search choice for adult content online. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/rMcNb Tags: EgyPornBan, featured, Internet, Porn, Sex Section: Egypt, Latest News, Media
