Mohamad told Malaysiakini.com that he has always held the belief that "the Internet is undermining moral values," and that had he not been pressured by Internet developers to leave the Internet uncensored, he would have eliminated all "filthy and dirty things" online.
"I was forced to say, 'I will not censor the Internet,' but I was never convinced," Mohamad said. "Even now I'm not convinced. I don't mean censor contrary views. Contrary views are OK."
Porn, however, is not. Mohamad said he believes young boys who watch porn are likely to act irrationally and prone to sexually assaulting women of all ages.
Mohamad kept his feelings to himself, however, because of the development of the country's Multimedia Super Corridor, an area zoned to house technology firms, based off of California's Silicon Valley.
He did not want to alienate the project's foreign investors.
Mahathir, 81, retired in 2003 after a 22-year post as prime minister.
