Dec 17, Colombo: Sri Lankan authorities have taken measures to ban websites hosting obscene content and prevent the spread of such materials through the Internet, a government official said.

Director General of Sri Lanka Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Anusha Pelpita said that over 1,000 obscene websites have been banned in Sri Lanka.

Speaking to Sinhala daily The Dinamina, Pelpita said the government takes action immediately when information is received on such websites.

He further said that the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission had recently banned several pornographic websites produced with Sri Lankans.

The official said some have secretly made videos without the knowledge of the participants and distributed them through the obscene websites.

He said the government has taken this action to safeguard the children from accessing these websites.