ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) ministry of transportation and communications on Wednesday issued a directive, obliging companies providing internet to introduce family packages to their users in a bid to censor content which shows pornography, incites violence or promotes the usage of drug and weapons. “We have decided that all internet and mobile companies that operate in the Kurdistan Region should have family packages for the sake of the public interest, preservation of Kurdish community’s norms, high moral… and decreasing the negative impact of the internet,” minister Ano Abdoka told Rudaw’s Bahroz Faraidun on Wednesday. The directive which was signed by Abdoka says the package should censor content that disrespects religions, prophets, and holy books; intends to damage religious and ethnic coexistence; and depicts pornography. It adds that the package should also deny access to online gambling; selling weapons; and promotion of alcoholic substances, cigarates, drugs, child abuse and violence against women as well as animals. Companies which do not abide by the ruling will be punished. The minister said two companies voluntarily introduced family packages one year ago. He also said they made the decision following an order from KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani following consultation with clerics, the public prosecutor, and interior ministry. There have been several failed attempts in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq to completely block pornographic websites. A recent series of murder incidents in the Kurdistan Region forced the KRG to restrict access to weapons by shutting down a large number of gun shops. There are reportedly social media pages which sell weapons online.
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