The Jordan Open Source Association will launch a campaign soon to rally support for defending Internet freedom in the Kingdom. The association, which is a not-for-profit organisation established last year with a view to support freedom of the web in Jordan, will launch a Facebook campaign soon and hold a series of meetings with officials and private sector representatives to defend Internet freedom. "The campaign we will launch seeks to educate the public about the dangerous consequences of the government blocking certain websites in Jordan," Issa Mahasneh, the association's president, told The Jordan Times on Sunday. "The campaign entails using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to rally public support to protect Internet freedom," he said, slamming a recent decision by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology asking Internet service providers to block pornographic websites.
The campaign, he said, will be held in cooperation with several IT sector representatives, civil society organisations and youth groups. "Blocking pornographic sites is the first step towards blocking other sites and limiting freedom of using the web. This is a blow to the IT sector in Jordan," he added. In late July, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology made software that enables Internet users to block pornographic content available on its website.
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AMMAN, Jordan — A Facebook anti-porn crusade has ignited a fiery backlash from proponents of Internet freedom that spilled into the streets of the kingdom of Jordan.
A demonstration was held last Sunday outside of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology in support of a Facebook online campaign that calls for the government to block porn sites.
The anti-porn movement was started by Ammar Al Saket, a father of two who said at the rally, "The government should immediately instruct telecom companies and Internet Services Providers to block these websites."
But according to the Jordan Times (MENAFN), opponents of the Facebook initiative also took their message to the people on Sunday slamming the anti-porn organizers.
The demonstrators warned that Internet freedom in Jordan is in real danger.
Joining more than 32,000 Jordanian Facebook citizens, The Pink Cross Foundation, Girls Against Porn & Human Trafficking, & Cedars Cultural and Educational Foundation are urging the Jordanian government to block porn sites.
The Jordanian Ministry of Communications, Information & Technology voiced support for blocking, preventing Jordan's children from exposure to harmful obscene materials.
U.S.-based "companies" operating, despite U.S. federal obscenity laws that make pornography distribution illegal, create a majority of the world's offensive websites. Since the U.S. Department of Justice won't enforce existing federal obscenity laws, other countries are forced to devise alternatives.
"This is an alternative solution for countries to protect citizens; they are fully supported," stated Tiffany Leeper. "The Department of Justice is failing to prosecute U.S. pornographers under federal obscenity laws, so countries face the burden of devising alternatives to prevent exposure to violent porn. The burden put on countries is embarrassing, as the Department of Justice does nothing to enforce U.S. obscenity laws when they could single-handedly decrease the plethora of Internet porn by prosecuting hard-core adult pornographers. Children are detrimentally affected by porn, and families destroyed, because the DOJ allows pornographers to thrive illegally."
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