Mexican public servants watch porn on the job

More than a third of government workers in Baja California are using their office computers to access pornography while at work, the Tijuana daily El Mexicano reports.

Citing a study conducted in the Mexican state of Sonora, Valentín Favela, described as an expert on pornography, told an April 13 conference on the subject in Tijuana that 35 percent of visits to pornographic websites originate from computers in government offices. Another 25 percent of visits to pornographic websites originate from private workplaces, Favela said.

In an interview with El Mexicano, Favela said that, based on conversations with several public officials in Baja California, the number of state workers accessing pornography from the workplace could be higher than 35 percent. Favela said a nationwide study similar to the one conducted in Sonora was needed to get a better idea of the extent of the problem across Mexico.

"Public servants, instead of serving, are watching pornography," explained El Mexicano.

The Baja California legislature has already passed laws to deal with the problem, but regulations that would place filters on government computers to prevent access to pornographic websites have yet to be implemented, Favela said.

In addition, Favela stated at the conference, nine of ten children older than nine have visited pornographic websites, though the majority of those visits are "accidental." Even stricter laws are needed, he said, to prevent that from happening.

Favela is director of business development for the Mexican firm SaintApp Software, which sells software designed to block access to pornographic sites. The software was on sale at the Tijuana conference, which was entitled "Pornography on the Internet and its Dangers."