THE Executive Council yesterday approved a bill designed to tighten control of the sale of pornographic videos. Legislator Mrs Peggy Lam Pei Yu-dja said the changes were aimed at protecting young people. The changes to the Film Censorship Ordinance will be gazetted on Friday. At present, people under 18 cannot see category III films in the cinema, but there is no law stopping them from renting or buying the adults-only films. Mrs Lam, convenor of the ad hoc group that studied the bill, said that teenagers would no longer be able to buy or rent category III videos. Other measures in the bill included banning obscene photographs on the cover of category III videos. ''We should not take away the privilege of adults to enjoy such films at home, but we need to protect young people,'' Mrs Lam said. She warned that proper enforcement was vital if the bill was to stop young people from becoming ''big customers'' of adult-only films. ''I hope now that the police or Recreation and Culture Branch will impose the law - we have got to prosecute if hawkers and retailers don't abide by the law,'' Mrs Lam said. Mrs May Lam Mei-hung, the deputy director of the Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service which has campaigned against pornographic material, welcomed the legislative changes, but also urged further reforms. ''From the beginning the people who censor these films should not just be government officials, but also people from different professions and representing different parts of the community,'' Mrs Lam said. ''I also worry that people who have a conflict of interest will still have control over who buys or sees this material.''
