Survey shows more Asians surf the Net for porn

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -- Asian Internet users flocked to pornographic Web sites in March, with Singaporean executives and South Korean students topping the list, a four-country report by NetValue shows.

Some 10.7 million South Koreans headed to adult sites in March, a hefty 72 percent jump from the year before, the Internet measurement firm said in a statement on Thursday.

Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore all saw a 30-40 percent jump in the number of visitors to the sites. In Taiwan, 2.5 million unique users clicked on porn sites, with 715,700 in Hong Kong and 373,100 in Singapore.

Given Singapore's "strict law of enforcement against all sorts of vices, the Internet offers a convenient source to other unorthodox materials," NetValue sales director Alan Choo said.

Asians also spent more time at porn sites.

Surfers in Taiwan were glued to adult material on their screens for an average of 90 minutes in March, Hong Kongers spent 73 minutes, Singaporeans 66 minutes, while Koreans were captivated for just half an hour.

Students across the four countries were also spending more time on porn and downloading more Web pages, NetValue said.

"Perhaps parents should be more observant of what their children are doing online," Choo said in the statement.

Students made up almost half of all Korean Internet users who visited porn sites, while about 47 percent in Singapore were executives and professionals.

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