76 Percent of Public Consider Internet Filtering Necessary for Minors

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Jan. 26–TOKYO — About 76 percent of Japanese people responding to a government survey feel that Internet filtering is necessary to restrict minors under 18 years old from accessing dating service or pornography websites, the Cabinet Office said Saturday.

In the survey on securing safety on the Internet, the Cabinet Office said a total of 76.3 percent of the respondents either said it is “necessary” or “rather necessary” to use Internet filtering.

The office conducted the survey of 5,000 people aged 20 or older in November. Of the total number surveyed, 3,006 responded.

The survey result represents the public’s hopes for the government to promote filtering service provided by mobile phone companies and others, amid a series of incidents of girls becoming victims of sexual assault through dating service websites.

Only 7.6 percent of the respondents either said filtering is “not necessary” or “rather not necessary,” while 16.1 percent said they do not know.

On the use of the Internet, 45.4 percent of the respondents said they become “nervous” or “rather nervous” when they access the Internet, surpassing 36.3 percent who said they are “not nervous” or “rather not nervous.” Of those who feel nervous about using the Internet, 66.5 percent said they are worried about possible leaks of personal information due to computer virus infections, while 52.1 percent said they are concerned about illegal access, where people’s pin numbers or passwords are used without permission.

To prevent Internet-related crimes, 51.0 percent said they want the police to strengthen the monitoring of the Internet, while 43.0 percent said they want the police to seek cooperation from Internet providers, the office said.

—–

To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com

Copyright (c) 2008, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.