Thomas Tayebwa, Deputy Speaker of the 11th Parliament, while officiating at a high-level policymaker engagement on financing for young people, organised by the Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Children (UPFC), yesterday, July 5, 2023, called upon the government to shut down all pornographic sites, exposing children to huge amounts of inappropriate information at a very young age, corrupting their youth and innocence.
“Our innocent children are exposed at an early age to cartoons involved in homosexuality, violence, the use of inappropriate language, pornography, and indecent dressing. In Muslim countries, pornography is blocked. Tell me if we shall lose an economy if we block all pornographic sites in Uganda; this vice is killing our Young generation,” said Tayebwa.
He further directed the Minister of Youth and Children Affairs to liaise with the Ministry of ICT and other Agencies handling children’s affairs to borrow ideas and engage Muslim countries for guidance on how to successfully block pornographic sites for underage children.
The deputy Speaker queried why the Minister of ICT has not yet blocked those sites and wondered what their value was to children and society as a whole.
“Apart from destroying the model family and what we are getting out of it, Honourable Minister for Children, you should petition your colleagues, this is an issue to discuss in parliament,” said Tayebwa.
According to Tayebwa, while growing up in his community, children could be offered food by anyone in the community if they were hungry; likewise, anyone would punish a child if found loitering and not in school.
“These days, people have abandoned the critical role of raising a whole child communally,” he added.
Tayebwa implored the minister in charge to do everything it takes to ensure the young people are protected against what he termed as immoral acts.
