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Malaysia targets mobile phone sex New technology is proving a challenge for Malaysian censorship The Malaysian government has ordered police to randomly check mobile phones for pornographic images.
The move follows reports by a local newspaper that young people were swapping sex videos and images on their mobile phones. Deputy Interior Minister, Noh Omar, said he worried the practice was becoming increasingly common.
Officers have been ordered to immediately delete any explicit images they find stored in the phones. The owners of internet cafes are also being targeted and will face prosecution if they allow customers to download pornographic material.
Shop operators who provide download services for sex images could also be charged for its possession, according to the New Straits Times newspaper. Possessing pornography in Malaysia carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison and 50,000 ringgit (US$13,292 or £7,374) in fines.
According to the Malay language newspaper, Harian Metro, teenagers are using their mobiles to video mass sex parties and then send the pictures to each other.
The BBC's Jonathan Kent in Kuala Lumpur says new technology is challenging the government's strict censorship laws, among the most rigid in Asia. Pornography is illegal in Malaysia, a country whose population is mainly Muslim and where state television censors images of people kissing.
But the popularity of the internet means the government has to balance its commitment not to censor the net with attempts to stem the spread of pornographic material. DVLA's 'phone sex video' inquiry.
The clips were said to have been downloaded to a mobile A woman has been suspended over claims that mobile phone clips of her having sex were seen by hundreds of colleagues.
The Swansea-based Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) worker was said to have downloaded clips to her mobile phone and sent the footage to friends.
Within hours, the clips were said to have been sent to 300 fellow workers. The DVLA said a "junior employee" was suspended amid an inquiry into "alleged circulation of unacceptable material."
Nobody could quite believe what they were seeing DVLA worker, quoted anonymously The woman, reported to be in her twenties, has been told to stay at home until the investigation is completed.
More than 6,000 people work for the DVLA, most of them based in a 20-storey building in the Morriston area of Swansea. Many are said to have viewed the clips by the time managers stepped in. "Nobody could quite believe what they were seeing," the South Wales Evening Post quoted one worker.
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