Phone pornography problem

A phone showing Mxit contacts. An application that has attracted paedopiles.

Recently I watched a ten year old navigate her way around a mobile phone. With a click of a button she had accessed the internet and with a few more thumb movements, she was checking her inbox for recent messages. Nowadays, it is easy to spot children with their own mobile phone. It concerns me, however, that children with mobile phones can access the internet or applications at ease.

This is problematic in that there is a large debate around the easy access of pornography on mobile phones. Now, children can access pornography literally at a push of a button. The question is what is being done to avoid children accessing pornography on their mobile phones?

 Instant messaging software applications allow for children not only to chat to their friends but it also enables them to join general chat rooms. People of all ages can access these applications and it is extremely difficult to control. Mxit for example, is just one application that has fallen victim to dissemination of pornography and paedophiles on their application.

But there is a solution! On the 25 March 2010 it was announced that anyone who places explicit or offensive material in public areas, on Mxit, will be banned the system. Parents can also access the Parents Guide to Mxit to better understand this application.

However, applications such as Mxit are not the only culprits and the internet allows for anyone to view pornography on their mobile phone. When I used my mobile phone to search the term ‘pornography’, on Google search, about 18, 500, 000 results were viewed. Now, that is a lot of porn and so easily accessible.

Unlike computers there is no software to block what people do on their mobile phones. However, both Vodacom and Mtn have some limited mechanism for parental control. If your child has internet access, check with the service provider to find out how you can block adult sites.

Furthermore, network operators have implemented verification systems. If customers want to buy porn through their mobile phone they need to verify that they are an adult. So there is a large amount of implementation taking place to protect children from pornography and more recently the Internet and Cell Phone Pornography Bill was drawn up. It is now illegal for internet and mobile phone service providers in the South Africa to distribute or authorise pornography.

One problem is that parents, although are providing children with mobile phones for safety reason, are often oblivious to the amount of content their children are exposed to via their mobile phone. If you want porn, you can get it very easily as it is difficult to control. Mobile companies can only do so much as they cannot block content and information for the ordinary citizen, regardless of the impact it has on children nowadays. Pornography is ubiquitous and unfortunately it is here to stay, so it is important to take as many precautions as you can to protect your child from pornography accessed via their mobile phones.

Thanks to Rafiq Phillip's for the picture. Follow Rafiq's photostream for more images