Fiji Politician Pushing Anti-Porn Measures for South Seas Nation

With numerous countries—including China, India, South Korea and others—already imposing complete or partial bans on porn, and others ranging from Australia to Ireland, the idyllic South Seas island nation of Fiji may now become the latest to crack down on internet porn, with effort being led by Fijian Member of Parliament Lynda Tabuya (pictured above).Tabuya leads a group called “Fiji Free from Porn,” and claims that she has received inside information from local internet service providers revealing that the Oceana archipelago with a population of fewer than 900,000 ranks among the world leaders in its hunger for porn.On a per capita basis, Tabuya claims—according to a report by the Fiji Village news site—Fiji ranks fourth worldwide in online searches for the word “porn,” and ninth in searches for “pornography.”Telecom Fiji, the country's sole telecommunications provider, denied that it tracks or shares data on its customers' onlie activity. Tabuya, however, claimed to have "sources" that she refused to reveal.“Why is this an issue for us here in Fiji?” Tabuya said, in an interview with The Fiji Sun. â€œBecause it has been shown medically and because more people and organizations are pinpointing pornography as a possible correlation between pornography and sexual violence. We are pre-empting a drug that is now out in the market so easily accessible to our children and adults and there is no control over it.”As AVN.com has reported on repeated occasions, research studies have found the opposite result, that there is no verifiable link between viewing porn and increased violent behavior or tendencies.The lawmaker also claimed this week that insiders at the ISPs told her that Sunday mornings are the peak hour for Fijian porn consumption, and that men are the chief consumers. Tabuya cited the failed United Kingdom age-based porn block—a law passed in 2017 that was finally abandoned last October without ever being implemented—as an example of one possible policy initiative that mat arise from her “Fiji Free from Porn” group.Photo by Stemoc / Wikimedia Commons