Malaysian minister says no funds for tech to screen for child porn in airports
- Zahidi says the Multimedia and Communications Ministry lacks funding for a technology where visitors’ devices of can be scanned at airports to detect child porn
- He was responding to an opposition MP in Parliament who questioned the lack of political will to tackle the issue
“It requires an allocation and budget from the Finance Ministry,” said Zahidi in response to Kasthuri Patto (PH-Batu Kawan) in Parliament on Monday.
“How serious is the government on this issue and is the government ready to invest in such technology, as well as provide training to civil servants to track down paedophiles?” she said.
Zahidi said many countries are currently using a technology where the electronic devices of travellers can be scanned at airports to detect child pornography.
“But Malaysia still lacks this technology because we don’t have a budget for that,” he added.
Zahidi, however, said there is extra funding allocated under his ministry’s Universal Service Provision (USP) programme, which is aimed at improving communication access to areas underserved by the main telecommunication providers.
“If we can use those funds, then we are able to purchase this technology. This depends on the government and the Finance Ministry,” he said.
Kasthuri, at a press conference soon after, said this was an issue she had raised during the former Barisan Nasional administration, when Nur Jazlan Mohamed was the deputy home minister.
“He (Nur Jazlan) said the same thing. There is no allocation and therefore we cannot follow what the Australian government is doing.
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“This is an important issue – do we need an Opposition backbencher MP to raise this? Isn’t there anyone from the ministry?” she said, questioning the lack of political will to tackle the issue.
She also said Malaysia is among the “popular” regional destinations for child trafficking and paedophilia.
“I hope the Deputy Minister will bring this up in Cabinet. I also hope the Finance Minister will be more sensitive to our demands. This is an investment to protect our children,” she added.
Over the last few years, various individuals, including Malaysians, have been arrested at countries such as Australia or the United States after child exploitation material was found on their phones at airports.
