Jakarta – A complete ban on all pornographic websites in observance of the Ramadan fasting period is unfeasible, Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring says.

"A 100 percent ban would be impossible, but it is the effort that counts," Tifatul said Tuesday.

Last month, the minister recommended blocking access to websites with pornographic content before Ramadan, which officially started today.

He added that the ban, which his office has been working on for the past month, would be put in place gradually, with a 100 percent ban as its ideal target. However, a few sites might slip through, he said.

Several porn sites were still accessible at the time of writing this article. "The work done by Internet service providers [ISPs] to filter porn sites is not easy considering there are 4 million web sites out there," he said.

Tifatul said ISPs were responsible for the filtering since they acted as gatekeepers connecting individual computers to the Internet. Indonesia's 200 ISPs had agreed to the ministry's request, he said.

ISPs would suffer no losses by blocking pornographic websites because those sites were not their core business, he said. "They mostly deal with communication data, networking between companies and ATMs," he said.

The filters, he said, would be based on keywords entered during searches. The list of porn-related keywords would be updated regularly to adjust to new keywords that previously had no links to porn sites.

"The eradication of porn will be very dynamic in the future," he said. The websites blocked, he added, would be those that were "clearly vulgar" containing sexual intercourse, nudity, sexual organs, child prostitution and sexual symbols.

However, Tifatul failed to provide a clear definition of what would be considered "clearly vulgar". "The disputable [definitions] will be our next step to decide upon."

Websites that referred to sex-related words and images, but used them in a scientific and cultural context, would be spared, he said. "Of course, certain formulas and analysis will be used in the process."

Tifatul further said that sanctions would be imposed on individuals distributing pornographic material, whether it was ISPs or individuals.

The 1999 Telecommunications Law (which forbids telecommunications operators from violating public decency), the 2008 Information Transaction Law (which bans the distribution of pornographic material) and the 2008 Pornography Law would be applicable, he said.

"The blocking of certain web sites would continue past Ramadan because the pornography law is permanent, even if it is revoked or amended," he said

Tifatul said the ban was a necessary step in implementing the pornography and information transaction laws, as well as protecting people from unsuitable content. "The negative impact is evident in our society. [Pornographic content] crushes our culture and destroys our children," he said.

However, many people have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the blockage given the immense size of the Internet and many tactics to unblock websites.

Doubts also surfaced on the effectiveness of using keywords as certain words might have more than one meaning or connotation. (gzl)