How you can help to fight porn

“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
- Edmund Burke

One of the reasons why the problem of pornography is so widespread today, is because we have done nothing about it. We talk about it, sometimes, and we disapprove of obscene images on the internet or on TV, but we don’t do anything about it. By not doing anything and remaining silent about it, we are actually showing approval about it.

We are either part of the problem or part of the solution.

What then can we do to change from being part of the problem to being part of the solution? Here are some ways. Feel free to add more.

1. When you see a blog with objectionable material, be it text or images, highlight it to the blog administrators. In Blogger and Xanga, you can ‘flag it’. In WordPress, you can ‘report it as mature’. I am sure every blog provider has something similar.

Don’t worry, you’re not being a prude. You are helping to fight the problem of pornography.

2. When people pass around pornographic images, whether by email or mobile phone, make your disapproval heard and your disgust known. Again, don’t worry about being a prude. You’re being a trend-setter.

3. Talk about it openly with friends. There are three kinds of people whose lives involve porn. The first are those who see nothing wrong with it. They can talk openly about it, and for it. The second are those who indulge in porn and feel guilty about it. They don’t talk openly about it. The third are those who no longer indulge in porn. They too can talk openly about it, and against it. Be the third kind, who are inspirational to the second kind.

4. If you are a parent, do not ignore or brush aside the matter when your children bring it up. Take pains to explore the matter with your children and help them come to realise what’s wrong and evil about porn. Of course this means that you must first know what’s wrong and evil about it yourself. Keep the channel of communication open with your children, who must feel confident about approaching you about the matter.

5. Report porn spam to internet service providers. Provide them with the IP address and sample of the spam. Internet spam clogs up ISPs. ISPs will be more than happy to help get rid of them. Complain to your ISP, and the sender’s ISP.

6. If you see VCD or DVD vendors selling porn material, anonymously tip off the police. Patrolmen will be sent to investigate, and you will discourage these vendors from frequenting your neighbourhood. It might not solve the problem, but it protects that neighbourhood at least.

7. If you see objectionable material being broadcast on television, complain to the relevant authorities. In Singapore, it is the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore. In the U.S., it is the Federal Communications Commission.

8. If you see indecent, but not obscene material, broadcast on television, complain to advertisers who buy air time for commercials on those programmes. Advertisers are very sensitive to complaints. Complaints means that people may be rejecting their products, which means that the huge amounts of money they spend on advertising on TV might be going to waste.

Note: Advertisers frequently buy TV time months in advance, booking a specific time slot without knowing what programmes are going to fill that slot. If you get that response, tell advertisers that they should monitor the programmes they sponsor more closely and, when needed, screen individual programmes prior to airing.

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