The government of the Philippines has just banned citizens from viewing some of the world’s most popular porn websites.
Those wanting to log on to the sites – including Pornhub and Redtube – found over the last 72 hours they were denied access. Users were instead redirected to a page explaining they were blocked from looking at the material.
A notice on the page reads: “This website has been ordered blocked under authority of the Philippine government pursuant to Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Law.”
Censoring adult websites is consistent with President Rodrigo Duterte’s determination to “clean up” Filipino society since he assumed office in June 2016. However, it has been pointed out that, ironically, the age of consent in the Philippines is just 12 years of age.
Under President Duterte’s administration, the Philippine Drug War has also escalated, in which suspected drug users and suppliers are being killed by vigilantes and police. An estimated 5,700 people have died in the last six months.
Pornhub’s Vice President, Corey Price, told MailOnline: “Non-consensual and child pornography is strictly prohibited on Pornhub. It’s disappointing that Pornhub was blocked as it will just drive people to use less vetted, riskier, smaller websites. We’re open to working with government officials to meet their standards in the Philippines.”
Earlier this month a survey conducted for Pornhub’s claimed that Filipinos spent more time, per visit, looking at Pornhub than any other nationality. Filipinos spent an average of 12 minutes and 45 seconds on the adult website, almost two minutes longer than the next most avid viewers, South Africans.
The Philippines joins Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Indonesia, Cuba, Iceland, Thailand, Egypt and Pakistan in being a country where access to online porn sites is forbidden.
