Sri Lanka's president has ordered an immediate ban on pornographic websites in a bid to prevent children being exposed to adult content, the telecommunications regulator said Sunday.Service providers in Sri Lanka have been asked to filter websites showing obscene, pornographic and other sexually explicit material, said the head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Priyantha Kariyapperuma. "If an adult wants to have unrestricted access to the Internet, they have to pay and get a password from the service provider," Kariyapperuma said.
Sri Lanka, home to 20 million people, has more than 200,000 Internet users. The ban was imposed on a directive by President Mahinda Rajapakse, who wanted to protect children against Internet pornography, he said. The regulator said authorities will hold subscribers responsible if children access pornographic websites. Earlier, the regulator had asked service providers to block access to the pro-separatist Tamilnet.com website.