Philippines Puts Curfew on Internet Cafes for Minors

Pao|o writes "The Philippine government, in all its wisdom, has recently passed laws to restrict the use of the net by minors. Read more about it here." Specifically, they're worried about Internet cafes. The story (in the Phillipine Daily Inquirer), says, "Concern over the operation of Internet centers heightened after Supt. Louie Oppus, Tagbilaran police chief, revealed that these establishments are being watched because they have become favorite hangouts of drug pushers and drug users."

Comments

This is really on the subject of Truancy

[GC]

I wouldn't say that this is anything to do with net controls. It seems more the concern of truancy and deliquancy. The curfew hours are 7am-5pm. So the kids can go to the Cafes and stay there all night?

Internet not welcome to certain governments

[harmonica]

I'm pretty sure we will see news of this kind happen many times more (not only related to children) - the internet and its possibilities (fast information interchange, difficulties to filter/control content) must be a threat for any kind of anti-democratic government.
People in 'unfree' countries aren't dumb, but they don't have ways to inform themselves except for the government-ruled media (see Iraq, Serbia etc.). So the Internet can help people forming an opinion on political questions that is made up on the basis of facts, not propaganda. Unfortunately, access to the Internet is restricted already by the simple fact that even a low-cost PC is not affordable in many countries, even without artificial intervention by governments. Hopefully, this will change. As long as access is only possible at a couple of internet cafes, control is still relatively easy, you simply have to close them for whatever reason you come up with (drugs dealers etc.).

A warning for concerned parents.

[Signal 11]

The internet is full of perverts, rapists, and con-artists. FUD, Families United against Data, aims to lobby congress and educate about the dangers of using the internet. Our schedule is listed below:

Washington, DC: Talk with Al Gore, inventor of the Internet.

Minneapolis, MN: Speak with Gov. Jesse Ventura, wrestler-turned-idiot-politician about Minnesota's new edukation initiative - "Just Say No To Wires".

Redmond, WA: Interview with Bill Gates on the benefits of using ActiveSex, a new protocol designed to limit sexual desires online.

Austin, TX: We'll be going door to door, and toe to toe with Dell Corporation on integrating Vchip technology into the next generation of computers.

Silicon Valley, CA: An exclusive interview with Steve Jobs - we'll ask him about the iSex, a new product he plans on marketing to make online sex easier than ever.

We hope you'll join us in our fight to help secure the internet against the tyranny of sex, and promote freedom and dignity for all.
- FUD.

--

What's wrong with this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Really? I mean, a poster above was correct when they posted that this deals more with the subject of truancy. I know that some arcades in San Diego, California, won't let children under a certain age during certain times during the day in much the same vein. It's because the kids are suppose to be in school anyways, so they shouldn't be at the Internet Cafe. The article makes no mention of the Internet being inherently bad, it just makes a small mention of the banning of viewing porn, and what's wrong with that (it is a public place after all)? What I find most interesting is this: this article is about the Philippines. Not the U.S., Europe, or Australia. The Philippines. And it found its way on /.

Hey, your prejudiced slips are showing...

[DukeTuring]

First of all, I'd like to wish that more people read the article first before spewing out their vitriolic at a third world country they know very little about...

Just so you know where I'm coming from, I'm a from that country... and I'd like to note a few things:

• It's a city ordinance of Tagbilaran city, a small city in the Visayas region: IT does not apply to the entire country.

• As a few already noted, it's more about controlling truancy rather than restricting Internet access (if you read more carefully, there's an exception to the ordinance for students if they have the teacher's permission). So it's not about an anti-internet access per se, but more about protecting children's welfare.

• As for the anti-porn restriction, I can understand where that's coming from : the Philippines has a strong Catholic legacy. We tend to be more prudish/conservative in terms of what we say we believe (not necessarily in what we do, however ;^))

• We are a third world that came out of twenty-plus-years of dictatorship (1973-1986) with very strong feelings for democracy and liberty. While we do have problems (and boy, do we have problems!), our government's attitude toward the Internet has been, in general, positive or at least neutral -- which is why, although its not as widespread as anyone here in the Philippines would like, Internet access is, at least, flourishing...