A Supreme Court judge in Samoa says Digicel and Vodafone should block harmful and inappropriate content including pornography.
Justice Tologata Leilani Tuala-Warren made the comments when sentencing for an 18 year-old who was convicted of incest.
Samoa's Supreme Court Photo: Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia
She said the defendant had access to pornography, which was also no doubt accessed by many children and teenagers in Samoa.
The judge called MPs to consider legislation to regulate the internet providers in Samoa.
She told the court this is an issue that falls squarely within the domain and control of Samoa's internet service providers.
The judge said while they didn't have a statutory obligation to "block pornographic material on mobile devices, their sense of social responsibility should lead them to self regulate."
Justice Tuala-Warren called on the Law Reform Commission to assist the government by reviewing existing laws and helping make regulation of content mandatory.
She said "the service providers must be held to a higher standard given that they influence the lives of many young people through the content which they allow".
The judge ordered that copies of her judgement and sentencing be sent to both Vodafone and Digicel along with the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, the Regulator and the Samoa Law Reform Commission.
