Sun, Aug 18, 2002 page2

• Group says porn reaching kids

  DANGEROUS MESSAGES A survey by the End Child Prostitution Association found that 86 percent of e-mail users under 18 have received pornography in their in-box

  • By Chang Yu-jung and Jimmy Chuang / STAFF REPORTERS
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  The End Child Prostitution Assoc-iation in Taiwan (終止童妓協會) yesterday said that youngsters are exposed to online pornography through pornographic e-mails, citing a recent survey which showed that over 90 percent of people with e-mail accounts nationwide have received sexually explicit e-mail.

  The association held a press conference yesterday to announce the findings of a survey they conducted between Aug. 6 and Aug. 12 on the issue of pornographic e-mail.

  They urged the public to pay more attention to the importance of safeguarding children and teenagers' e-mail accounts from cyberpornography.

  

  A representative from the End Child Prostitution Association of Taiwan displays an e-mail screening system at a press conference yesterday. According to the association, a recent survey shows that more than 90 percent of Taiwan's Internet surfers have received pornographic e-mail.

  PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

  A total of 1,766 Internet users participated in the survey. Of those polled, 10.14 percent were under 18 and 59.74 percent were between the ages of 18 and 30.

  One-third of those surveyed were students.

  According to the survey, 91 percent of the interviewees said that they had received at least one pornographic e-mail messages, and nearly 30 percent said that they receive pornographic e-mail messages every day.

  The survey also found that more than 80 percent of pornographic e-mails that those people receive are junk messages.

  "What worries us is that over 86 percent of those surveyed who were under 18 years old said that they have received pornographic e-mail," said Lee Li-fen (李麗芬), the association's secretary-general.

  Lee also said that those messages often expose youngsters to pornographic Web sites.

  "When we open a pornographic e-mail message, it will often link us directly to various pornographic sites through automatic pop-up window screens. Before we close down all the windows, we have already absorbed some of the obscene information shown in them," Lee said.

  Some 88 percent of respondents indicated that they would take advantage of e-mail screening services operated by their Internet service providers if such services were available.

  Among those who have experienced receiving pornographic e-mail messages, 65.23 percent of them said they would delete the messages directly while 23.84 percent said they would delete the messages and block the sender's e-mail address.

  In addition, 87.54 percent of the interviewers agreed that Web masters at schools should install screening software to ensure their students, especially those at the elementary and middle school level, would not be exposed to such material.

  "From the survey, we can see that there is an urgent need to block pornographic e-mails from being sent to young people's e-mail accounts in order to prevent them from being influenced by the obscene content," Lee said.

  The End Child Prostitution Association is dedicated to the protection of children and women and aims to end child prostitution, Internet pornography and commercial sexual exploitation.

  As part of yesterday's press conference, Ulead Systems -- a local software company that produces integrated Internet-based imaging and video products -- gave the association 100 sets of e-mail screening software that will be donated to local primary and secondary schools. Once installed in a school's server, the software can help block pornographic e-mails or e-mail containing sexually explicit content from being sent to student accounts.

  Chuang Yu-hsiu (莊育秀), an official at the Ministry of Education's computer center, said at the press conference that the ministry has been working to educate youngsters about proper Internet use.

  "The ministry is grateful to see the private sector and NGOs reaching out to help the government promote a healthier Internet environment," Chuang said.

  "The ministry not only intends to wipe out obscene information from leaking onto campuses thr-ough the Internet, but we are also trying to block pornography from entering into student's home," Chunag said.

  Schools interested in the free software should register for it on the association's Web site before Sept. 17: www.ecpat.org.tw
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