Sex And Technology

Current Events |

By MAJOR TOM | July 3, 2007

The news on the radio was blasting this morning about a rape incident that had occurred in Los Baños, Laguna, involving 7 youths. The young victim herself was being interviewed on the air and had bravely recounted how the crime was effected and had named some of the assailants. For a rape victim, she sounded so young and also so courageous.

Her forward demeanor while narrating the harrowing incident was a bit unusual as she spoke in straight and unwavering tone in that radio interview. Possibly, the terror of her ordeal had hardened her that there was nothing else left for her to do except to tell---to live and tell---and to get the ends of justice despite the huge embarrassment that the experience will bring her and her family.

The rape had happened on June 18 and the delay of her testimony might weaken her cause. However, this is very understandable since the alleged assailants, one of them the son of a policemen, were threatening her and family to no end. To top it all, the rape incident was even video-cammed by one of the rapist using a cellphone. That would make any victim all the more hesitant since broadcast of it would be another callous intimidation. If you speak, you'd be shamed to the whole world.

This is the problem with technology, despite it's boon, there's always a bane to it, and minimal as it may seem, but when utilized, may be very vile and destructive.

This rape incident left my mind wandering about how some of our youth had become so sexually callous. I am not generalizing here,but I am just pondering. I am thinking how perhaps advanced instruments like cellphones and the Internet could be at times hazardous to the society, where these gadgets could in some other time become devices to generate highly sexual materials and then to propagate it, thru mails and image messages.

In the Internet, explicit content can be viewed so easily and by any youth even not of age, just as long as the youth knows how to click the proper buttons.

I am not saying that such misuse of the net by youths is so rampant. In fact, I can say that Internet cafés administrators---at least to the ones I frequent---have done good in controlling such inclinations except that once in a while, I notice how some would veil the explicit sites by pretending to browse on regular websites while clicking back to the sexually-explicit site every now and then, when the café administrator or keeper is out of sight. In fact there was this one memorable occasion when I saw a very young child, like 8 or 9 years old, playing some colorful java games. But on the corner of my eye, the screen in front of the young boy kept on changing hue that when I observed closer, the boy was actually browsing a very explicit site when no one is looking, and just pretending to play a game. I felt a little shock realizing how a very young boy like that could be exposed to such materials.

And then there was this another incident when while this Internet café was so busy with lots of customers---some playing while others surfing---there was this burly fat guy, who just sat in front of a computer and immediately opened numerous porn sites without hesitancy or reservation whatsoever, and went on downloading like there was no tomorrow and like there were no other people present there. Of course, many had thrown knowing looks at each other in that café, including the café administrator and me. Everyone seems to notice how unusual the situation was and in fact a bit funny that I smirked lengthily while surfing the net, trying to hold of a laugh.

What the hell was this fat guy thinking just coming in and downloading porn while the net was particularly full of people at that moment. I bet even the café administrator couldn't do anything about it---it was liked an unprecedented situation for him that he wasn't prepared to handle or did not anticipate to happen.

Despite that there is no concrete indication relating the increasing amount of sexual misconduct among our youths today to the proliferation of sexually-explicit materials on the net and thru cellphones, and while there is yet to be a very formal scientific study on the subject, I feel somehow that unmitigated and unrestricted access of our youth, and even of the general population, to such highly explicit sexual materials would be deleterious to the society, propagating a general psyche in the population of sexual looseness and injecting disturbing ideas to a youth population that should in the first place be concentrating on their studies and other worthwhile social duties. As of now, it might not be as prevalent---although I feel it is---but the government should not wait for the situation to get worse before it acts on it.

The Internet is so seamless and so vast that I know controlling or regulating it against explicit content would be a hugely monumental task, quixotic even. But somehow, we got to do something.

This is the right and proper opportunity for newly-elected political leaders to be of significance to our society. Lawmakers should formulate a scheme that would curtail misuse of technology such as cellphone messaging and the Internet, even to the extent of creating an agency that would specially handle and monitor such improper conduct(s). There are lots of government agencies out there that do not really matter much to our population and yet they are there just for the sake of it. But if there is an agency that would be well-worth people's money, it is this agency that should be watching out for these kind of misuse.

18 Comments »

1. victor says; July 3, 2007 @ 12:04 pm

   According to the last survey or statistic, the porn industry surpassed the income of Microsoft, goggle and yahoo put together in the internet business, and the Philippines rank no. 7 among the nations rated at yielding an approximate $1 billion. China is numero Uno with $24 billions followed by South Korea and Japan. Canada and Philippines tied the score. There is no definitive study yet to correlate violent Sex Crimes to access to Pornography by Adults. But underage or minor should definitely not be exposed to Pornography, it is still a crime.

   The difference though, although we are liberal when it comes to sex and access to sexual materials, (we have adult video stores, and adult supplies stores accessible to adults) but the
   Authorities here are very, very serious when it comes to Sex Crimes, that the country even enact a law that its citizens can be prosecuted for sex crimes committed in other countries where Justice is weak, at home. And lately the Toronto Police Internet Sex Crime Unit Helped the British Police bring down one of the biggest pedophile ring operating internationally. And they working 24/7 monitoring the internet and other forms of modern technology for anything illegal, especially involving Children.

   Rape and Sexual Assaults are Heinous Crimes and be treated as such....

2. Major Tom says; July 3, 2007 @ 3:08 pm

   To vic: Exhibiton of pornographic material is definitely still a crime here yet the law becomes toothless when it comes to the Internet where it can be browsed in very private manners.

   It is clearly humongous the porn industry online and it becomes such an amazing idea that a third world country like us is among the top consumer of such material---despite that we are a catholic country. We are poor but we got all the money for such mindless things.

   By the way, send my gretings to the two girls in your family who had celebrated their birthdays recently. My browser at home can't seem to comment on your site.

3. rhodora says; July 3, 2007 @ 7:53 pm

   Eight year old boy browsing on sex sites! Oh my! Where are the parents?

4. pining says; July 3, 2007 @ 8:18 pm

   I second Rhodora's thought: where are the parents?
   I think there should be a regulation on internet cafes prohibiting use of such lewd sites...

5. eric says; July 3, 2007 @ 8:20 pm

   It is really a disgrace how some tend to abuse and misuse technology; oftentimes, using it with nefarious intention.

   Rape, as they say, is an act of violence, and I am amazed at how that young rape victim had recovered much sooner than expected. What a brave soul, too!

6. Major Tom says; July 3, 2007 @ 9:35 pm

   To rhodora: That shocked me too but I assure you that it was only one instant that I have witnessed a youth as young as that. But I am worried that it might become prevalent.

7. Major Tom says; July 3, 2007 @ 9:39 pm

   To pining: That's really a great concern, parents nowadays should always be on the lookout on what their kids consuming when they are logged to the net. Maybe they are not as apprised being unfamiliar with the new thing or idea of surfing.

   As to regulation, without any further legislation or order, there should be a standing legal restriction on cafes allowing lewd sites to be exhibited. Yet, it is often forgotten or set aside. A more specialized prohibition would be so useful in the present.

8. Major Tom says; July 3, 2007 @ 9:44 pm

   To eric: Completely evil I say. I have a feeling that no matter the prohibition, such misuse would always occur. malice would always find their way in the oft complicated and vast maze of the net and of technology in general, like cell phones and other communication equipments/gadgets. I could be so pessimistic on this. Yet, it wont hurt for the government to take adept precautions and monitorings.

9. victor says; July 3, 2007 @ 10:31 pm

   major tom,
   it's not your browser, the comment was hidden for a while and now it is open again. i will, as soon as i email the girls today. the four years old can now speak mix taglish. i still don't know how she talks with her peers. be going to baby sit her when mom delivers the next one expected this november, made in pinas daw during their visit early this year. both are working as rn and just recent immigrants, so can't really afford to take off. always at the service..

10. Major Tom says; July 3, 2007 @ 10:57 pm

    To vic: This is good. I thought it was browser problems here at my point. Thanks for the info and good luch and happy birthday once more to the two girls...

11. annamanila says; July 5, 2007 @ 12:32 am

    A friend had to testify in court a few years back and she was about to go to pieces with jitters. Her doctor gave her a mild tranquilizer .. and she was able to go through an otherwise harrowing experience calmly. In fact with savvy.

    So that's a probability.

    I agree with you about the permissiveness online. I also wondered whether there were online policemen. There is of course freedom of choice especially among adults .. but as they say ... one's freedom ends when another's right (to unpolluted environment and i don't just mean physical) begins.

12. Major Tom says; July 5, 2007 @ 7:43 am

    To annamanila; It must have been really that way. When I was in law school, we had moot courts or pretend cases that once I played a witness and i tell you Madam, even if the scenario were all just made up, I still got so nervous. I wonder how it'd be in real instance.

    About Internet permissiveness, I believe there must be some form of restrictions or limitations on the use of the net, one that should be concretely applied and felt. Not that I wanted the China situation where government becomes too intrusive, filtering even regular sites from consumers. However, a little tightening would be so useful to us. I do not believe in absolute freedom for that is never the idea of democracy---only responsible freedom.

13. victor says; July 5, 2007 @ 9:15 am

    re annamanila comment:"I also wondered whether there were online policemen"

    Yes there are. Yesterday the RCMP announced that with the co-operation of a software developer, they are now in possesion of a program that will easilly detect abused victims in the internet worldwide. We have a Unit of even our City Police dedicated to monitor the Sex Crimes in internet, especially the Exploitations of Minors.

    I remember one incident where our cops, published the background pictures of the room in a child pornography that lead to the resolution of the case and found out that the perpetrator is already serving a 15 years sentenced for related crimes and was charged for the another.

    Is is still legal for consenting adults. I have a fellow worker, a university student working on summer break that uploaded their sexual encounters at the University among themselves, and not even embarrassed about it. Just made him popular among our young women at work...

14. Major Tom says; July 5, 2007 @ 12:20 pm

    To vic: This is good news, I bet this is just the kind of software or scheme that Ipanema is blogging about most recently in her blog about an anti-pedophile system. If only our government here could have such enforcement online but as far as I know there is none. If any legislator newly-elected, this is one good way to earn very good points.

    In my mind, even towards consenting adults---like the university guy you just mentioned---should apply the enforcement because the bottomline is, this is still a form of excessive obsecenity and therefore a clearly disorderly act. Laws are meant to be that way, to combat acts and conducts that bring disorder and unpeace to the social order.

15. ipanema says; July 5, 2007 @ 3:44 pm

    Porn industry is very much alive in the internet and raking millions. It's the biggest online business perhaps.

    It's actually how we use technology that makes it evil.

    All these internet administrators do is switch on the firewall. However, business is business. Men, even young boys go online for that. If the i.cafe can't access this, there will be less customers.

16. Major Tom says; July 5, 2007 @ 9:30 pm

    To ipanema: It's even in the billions of dollars number and its stagerring. Sooner or later, it'll pose really palpable problems if it won't be curtailed effectively.

    Does firewalls do that? I thought they'd only effective againts virus. Maybe some firewalls could have word recognition in order to filter out licentious sites.

17. tutubi says; July 10, 2007 @ 11:32 am

    porn drives the net while spam drives email

    i hate going to cafes, insecure, noisy and sometimes smelly

18. Deborah says; August 30, 2007 @ 7:15 pm

    That's the thing about this generation. The kids're becoming more and more promiscuous. The one thing about sex is that if it isn't accompanied by a prior relationship with any intimacy between a couple, it can wreck the entire thing. I read in this ebook that sex is only the smallest part of the relationship, and that without any intimacy, it wouldn't even count as a relationship at all. While that's a given, it only underscores the fact that people need to be constantly reminded of this.

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