Hard-cell porn open to kids
2005-04-27 22:00
Elsabé Brits
Cape Town - Explicit pornography on cellphones is illegal, yet children can come by it easily.
An investigation by Die Burger shows that crude close-up shots in colour are readily available.
Short pornographic video clips on cellphones are also available for just a few rands.
With more-upmarket phones, these videos can be passed on between users without any problem and there is no age restriction place.
Many of the messages are in animation format - but they leave nothing to the imagination.
Screensavers, wallpaper pictures and picture messages cost between R3 and R15. The average price is R5.
These messages are widely advertised in the media, including on TV and the internet.
A person simply chooses the picture they want and sends an SMS with the relevant code to a number. Within minutes, the image is received. No questions are asked regarding the recipient's age.
No way to verify user's age
One website does say that permission is needed from the account holder to download a picture.
Some websites and advertisers do say that the recipient has to be 18 or older, but there is no way of verifying this.
Shokie Bopape-Dlomo, chief executive officer of the Film and Publication Board, said this type of pornography was, indeed, illegal.
Pornographic material could be distributed only by adults who were registered as distributors.
"The cellphone company and associated service providers are not registered as such," she said.
She said distributors had no way of judging whether a client was over 18.
"Technology has taken over the world and it is changing very quickly, but it is a drawn-out process to change the laws," she said.
The issue of children and pornography will be debated at a congress in June.
Dineo Pooe, spokesperson for the Advertising Standards Authority, said cellphone adverts regarding this were allowed to be broadcast only late at night - and then only during programmes of an adult nature.
Got out of hand in Israel
They also were allowed to advertise only in publications that were of an adult nature and not in family magazine or newspapers where children could read them.
"We have had a few complaints already," said Pooe.
In Israel, cellphone pornography among children got so out of hand that the government was forced to take action against it last year.
Since December, people could download cellphone pornography only after going through a specific process and being identified as adults.
- Die Burger