Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica has announced that the Coalition Government is committed to tackling pornography and is considering the possibility of banning certain websites if needed.
During a recent parliamentary update about the National Taskforce to Address Pornography, he mentioned that the inaugural meeting of the taskforce emphasized the importance of international cooperation and enhancing legal frameworks to safeguard children against online sexual exploitation.
Kamikamica highlighted that the members reviewed current child protection laws and recognized the necessity for more comprehensive policies to meet the challenges posed by the digital environment.
He detailed the establishment of three working groups, each with distinct objectives aligned with the taskforce’s overall goals. The first group, chaired by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection, will concentrate on policy, legislation, governance, and criminal justice. The second working group, led by the Online Safety Commission, will focus on survivor support, empowerment, society, and culture. The third group will address industry and technology responses, chaired by the Telecommunications Authority of Fiji.
“To ensure the effectiveness of our initiatives, the taskforce will implement robust mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation,” Kamikamica stated. He also mentioned the establishment of feedback channels for the community to offer input, ensuring that their efforts are responsive to the needs of citizens.
The next meeting of the National Taskforce is scheduled for this month, where the working groups will share their findings, and discussions will continue on comprehensively addressing the issue of pornography use in Fiji. “I have been reiterating in this honorable Parliament that we are very serious in what we are doing, to the extent that we are actually looking at even banning some sites, if necessary,” he added.