Love March Movement wants termination of Yute Chatz service

By Nakinskie Robinson   

 

Love March Movement President Dr. Daniel Thomas is calling for a complete removal of the Ministry of Health & Wellness' Yute Expression's Yute Chatz chat line.

 

The Ministry on Monday suspended the service amid mounting concerns about the sexual and reproductive health advice being given to children through the service.

 

The chat line was accessible to those aged 13 to 24.

 

Assessments are now being conducted.

 

Dr. Thomas argues that the Ministry blundered in the consultative process prior to the release of the platform.

 

"The chatbot has provided information. If that was the government's goal, they would have accomplished that. They provided information that undermines the family and the moral fabric of the entire society. And so might as well they had not created a chatbot to start with. They should have left it and said that, 'Oh, we blame YouTube, we blame these other social media platforms', but the Ministry themselves created a platform with this information that is insulting the parents, that is concerning and shocking and in the words of the Umbrella Group of Churches, horrifying," he contended. 

 

He called for more consultation to be done, but insisted the government should refrain from consulting with entities such as UNICEF, UNAIDS, and the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG). 

 

Dr. Thomas also called for members of the public to support the termination of the chat line. 

 

"I want to encourage the citizens of Jamaica to not declare victory too early. We are not here to suspend evil. We are here to demolish and destroy evil, you understand? So please, we're calling on persons to call the Ministry of Health. Let them know that you want it to be removed. We don't just want it to be suspended. All citizens of Jamaica, all parents and concerned God-fearing people, we want this thing to be removed and we also want them to review every decision made from the National Family Planning Board," he declared.   

 

The Love March Movement president was a guest on the Morning Agenda on Power 106FM.