RIYADH: The Shoura Council has proposed that legislation be drawn up to tackle cyber criminals and pornographic websites, suggesting that offenders be publicly named and shamed. It also said that victims of sexual blackmail who report to the authorities should be exempted from punishment. The Council studied Sunday a series of proposals from government bodies for laws governing the moral content of electronic media, and backed suggestions for a central body tasked with regulating the area. Members urged that an anti-cybercrime unit be set up at the General Security Department to receive reports from cybercrime victims, along with similar units at other authorities such as the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Culture and Information, and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai'a). The Shoura recommended establishing a predominantly Ministry of Culture and Information committee with additional members from other ministries and Youth Welfare, the Telecommunications Commission, and the Hai'a, to produce a “cultural and information plan to promote virtue and fight vice”. Other recommendations from the Council included asking public and private organizations and research centers to conduct social, psychological, security and health research on the spread of immoral materials and ways of tackling them, and encouraging responsible use of the Internet.
