Cambodian PM bans use of 3G phones for fear of porn spreading

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday said that he will ban the use of 3G phones to prevent the phones used for spreading pornography from sabotaging the social morality.

"We should wait for another 10 years to use the phones. It would not be too late until we strengthen our social morality," the premier said during visiting a pagoda.

In the light of the fact that Cambodia still has no means to cope with pornography on the Internet, "We should wait for the use of such video phones," Hun Sen stressed.

Hun Sen made the remarks after his wife and several other senior government leaders' wives complained that the phone could be used to disseminate pornography and destroy Cambodia's tradition and social morality.

The wives of the leaders, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cabinet Minister Sok An, former National Assembly president Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Supreme Curt President Dith Monty, accused the phones' video capability of destroying Khmer culture and polluting the minds of teenagers.

"We are the leaders' wives and leading women," the signatories said in their petition, dated Friday. "We are all very concerned that bad people will use modern communication and information technology in the wrong direction and that it will make a serious negative effect on morality and social welfare," they warned.

The petition also called on the government to "seriously punish " anyone found to be using the phones to attract men into sexual relations by sending them explicit pictures.

"We all would like to request the royal government to issue a regulation prohibiting the individual use of this modern phone," the petition reads.

Two Cambodian companies, MobiTel and the AZ group, is planning to introduce the latest mobile phone model to the country.

The generic term "3G" refers to third-generation mobile phone technology, which offers Internet connections and the possibility of video conferencing.

Source: Xinhua