Which Act Does the Port Vila Block Page Cite?

On 5 November 2026, the Government of Vanuatu switched on the Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System. The system blocks access to websites holding verified child sexual abuse material. Te Tari Taiwhenua (the Department of Internal Affairs) of New Zealand manages the filter. Its staff built the Vanuatu connection with the Australian Attorney-General's Department and with local internet service providers. The VBTC report on the launch states that the filter blocks the listed sites alone and records no individual's activity online. In Port Vila, the Department of Communications and Digital Transformation hosts the landing page for blocked users.

There is a list of web addresses behind the filter. Since 2024 the system has loaded a blocklist compiled by the Internet Watch Foundation, an international list far longer than the earlier New Zealand list. According to an information release from Te Tari Taiwhenua, the foundation updates that list twice daily. Inspectors of Publications check samples to confirm the filter blocks child sexual abuse material alone. In New Zealand the filter stopped 1,032,683 attempts to open such websites in 2024, according to the department's transparency report for that year.

On the landing page, the system addresses the blocked user in words. The DCEFS Code of Practice of October 2024 gives that page 4 duties. It tells the requester about the block and the reason for it. It links to further information and help. It also links to specialist treatment services. Its fourth duty is a method of appeal. The Code asks for an appeal process in plain view, with the option of anonymous lodgement.

After the launch, we viewed the Vanuatu landing page at dcefs.gov.vu on 12 November 2026. Its notice informs the visitor of a blocked attempt to open a website with illegal child exploitation material. A Legal section follows. Below it, a Report section names 3 contacts, the Vanuatu Police Force, the Department of Communications and Digital Transformation and the CyberTipline of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. An Education section links to Cyber Safety Pasifika and Keep It Real Online. The page declares English as its language in its own markup.

By comparison, the New Zealand landing page at dce.net.nz follows the template the Code describes. It lists counselling and treatment services by region, including a free helpline open all day and night. It also links an anonymous webform for objections to a block. The Vanuatu page does give its visitors report contacts and education links. Its Report section asks witnesses of harmful content to report it. Its Legal section addresses the blocked user.

On the Legal section, the stake is the citation. The Vanuatu page names sections 147A and 147B of the Penal Code [Cap 135] and states penalties of up to 5 years in prison. Parliament inserted the 2 sections in 2003. Section 147A defines child pornography by reference to a person under 16 or apparently under 16. It sets 2 years for possession. Section 147B sets 5 years for an individual who publishes it and 20,000,000 vatu for a corporation.

In the official French edition, the code is the Code pénal [Chapitre 135] (the Penal Code). Its headings give Possession de pornographie enfantine (possession of child pornography) for section 147A and Publication de pornographie enfantine (publication of child pornography) for section 147B. Parliament later passed the Cybercrime Act (Act 22 of 2021), in force since 22 September 2021. That Act defines a child as a person under 18.

Section 7 of the Cybercrime Act makes the production, distribution, obtaining or possession of child pornography through a computer system an offence. An individual faces a fine of up to VT5,000,000 or up to 10 years in prison. Section 8 binds service providers. A provider who learns that its service gives access to such material commits an offence if it fails to refer the details to the Vanuatu Police Force in a reasonable time.

Article 3(1) of the Constitution makes Bislama the national language. The Dipatmen blong Langwis Sevis (the Language Services Department) publishes the Bislama text of the article. In that text Bislama is the Nasonal langwis (national language). The text names Bislama, English and French as the 3 ofisol langwis (official languages). Article 64(1) of the Konstitusen blong Ripablik blong Vanuatu (the Constitution of the Republic of Vanuatu) gives a citizen the right to obtain the services of the administration in the official language of the citizen's choice.

The Ombudsman reports to Parliament on the use of the 3 official languages. The 2015 report found English the dominant language of official documents. It also described translation from French and English into Bislama as a source of inexact results. In the 2019 survey of public servants, spoken Bislama came first among the languages of staff conversation with supervisors and colleagues.

The fault class is familiar from our own files. In a Bislama safeguarding policy summary by our team, a reviewer flagged a bullet with the governing statute's title in translation beside a bullet with the title in English. A second reviewer proposed the English title for the whole document. The team chose a form for the title and applied it across the summary. On the Vanuatu page, the Legal section gives the statute its English title, the Penal Code [Cap 135].

John Jack, Director of the Department of Communications and Digital Transformation, welcomed the filter. He said children deserve safety at home and at school, and online as well. Jared Mullen, General Manager of Digital Safety and Identity Investigation at Te Tari Taiwhenua, said cooperation with Pacific partners allows practical action against access to harmful material. In Bislama, the word for children is pikinini (children). Save the Children Vanuatu titled its 2024 study of children's exposure to violence Pikinini Stap Sef, Filem Sef (published in English as Feeling Safe).

A New Zealand project ran from 2020 to 2025 to connect Sāmoa and Tonga to the filter, with the Cook Islands to follow. Under the Code of Practice, the system logs the requested website, the internet service provider and the requester's IP address. It anonymises the address and deletes the logs after 30 days. The Code bars the department from using the logs in an investigation.