Nkosana Lekotjolo

Nkosana Lekotjolo

Children's organisations have welcomed a new website aimed at bringing to book people posting child pornographic images on the Internet.

The first African Anti- Child Pornography website was officially launched by the Films and Publication Board (FPB) in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs on Tuesday. The public can now anonymously report child pornography or sexual abuse images on the Internet.

Childline national coordinator Joan van Niekerk said the website was a positive step in the fight against child abuse and would lead to the closing down of many websites containing the sexual images of children.

"We are pleased with this website and believe that it will help stop those who exploit children and use their bodies for sexual purposes," she said.

FPB spokesman Sibonakonke Myeni said the website should be used by the public to expose child sexual abuse images found on the Internet. She said the website was not restricted to reporting sexual abuse images on the Internet, but extends to other media.

"People can also report sexual images in other areas such as private videos or DVDs where children are being abused," said Myeni.

Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect spokesman Samantha Waterhouse said the anti-pornography website was good news because children were exposed to a lot of pornography on the Internet and social chat forums like Mxit.

Media Monitor director William Bird said that they wanted to see the people behind websites sexually exploiting children harshly punished.