Porn censorship

[Kendhni]

David Cameron has unveiled new porn curbs.

He has suggested Every household in the UK is to have pornography blocked by their internet provider unless they choose to receive it

So it is not big deal to me but I deplore this sort of censorship ... it feels like we have woken up in China ... is it possible that it is the thin end of a wedge that the wider 'government' wishes to put in place? If it is to protect children then that is, or at least should be, the parents job.

[david63]

This type of censorship goes totally against the ethos of the Internet and as you say Ken it is the "thin end of the wedge".

I have no idea how this will work (well it won't work) but if all ISP's have to comply then it will increase the cost of supply. Then how do you deal with people who have a non UK ISP?

We all know that where there is a will there is a way and there will be so many ways around this it will be like trying to keep water in a colander!

And then how do you define pornography? What is pornography for one person is not necessarily pornography to another.

[Delboy]

David Cameron has unveiled new porn curbs.

He has suggested Every household in the UK is to have pornography blocked by their internet provider unless they choose to receive it

So it is not big deal to me but I deplore this sort of censorship ... it feels like we have woken up in China ... is it possible that it is the thin end of a wedge that the wider 'government' wishes to put in place? If it is to protect children then that is, or at least should be, the parents job.

It will still be the parents or at least the computer account holder to decide what is watched, the only difference will be you will now have to opt in, rather than opting out. The filters will be in place to block the pornography material, if you as the the account holder or parent are happy for your children to view, then you will have the facility to turn the blocking filters off. What is watched on the computer will be the responsibility of the account holder, only they will be able to change the filters.

I understand the NSPCC are fully backing these changes, its an aid to help parents decide what is or is not watched in their homes, the difference is now you have to opt in.

[HK phooey]

Ken, this move seems to be in response to a couple of recent high profile child murders in which the murderers had accessed extreme child pornography beforehand. It is a move I welcome and if a pervert types in certain search requests and sees a warning flash up on screen then perhaps he/she will be deterred from viewing it. I am unclear on the law here but I would like to see anyone that puts this filth on the internet, and anyone viewing it, prosecuted.

[Manoverboard]

If everybody had to opt in to view child porn then I assume it would, in some cases at least, deter else speed up detection rates ... if yes then it has to be a good idea that should be applauded and supported.

Adult porn should already be controlled by parents and if it isn't then it certainly should be.

~~~~~

It may not be possible to elliminate it but making it harder will doubtless please some

[Not so ancient mariner]

David Cameron has unveiled new porn curbs.

He has suggested Every household in the UK is to have pornography blocked by their internet provider unless they choose to receive it

So it is not big deal to me but I deplore this sort of censorship ... it feels like we have woken up in China ... is it possible that it is the thin end of a wedge that the wider 'government' wishes to put in place? If it is to protect children then that is, or at least should be, the parents job.

Agreed Ken, but if they are just blocking the 'sick' stuff that it would be illegal to download anyway, then I am all in favour of it. Otherwise it is a minefield. and who would decide exactly what is classified as 'porn' anyway?

[Kendhni]

The funny thing is that given most childrens computer knowledge versus their parents, the adults will need to ask their children what they have to do .. and then the children will get around it without the adults knowing. Having listened to some of the news reports on this though it appears that it is paying lip service to the issue which will, generally speaking, will placate public outcry.

They were already talking about extending this to cover extreme political and religious web sites as well ... outsource it to China, they can add great censorship and ensure that all its citizens only read material verified as suitable by the comrades in charge.

[Manoverboard]

The kids will know more about the settings etc but if the parent Account Holder had to sanction such changes via their logging-on / Customer e-mail address with a secure password then that should make it just that little bit more difficult.

[suespud]

It might seem political and probably is, But if it makes people think about it more and brings it home to parents what they could do if they tried, regarding internet settings, surely it is worth it.
Personally I don't care if it is censorship.
Anything that stops or even tries to stop children getting access is good.

[Kendhni]

Having re-read this a bit more it appears that there are some very mixed messages being sent out ... on one hand they talk about protecting children but on the other it is to also stop adults from getting hold of certain types of porn (which I thought was already illegal)?

Mind you there is one bit that is a bit concerning ' possessing online pornography depicting rape would become illegal ' ... I wonder if that means that my 'I spit on your Grave' video has gone from the realms of banned to illegal .. and I really must stop watching 'Game of Thrones' which has occasionally 'depicted' such things.

[Silver_Shiney]

While I understand where Ken and David are coming from on this, I welcome the proposals. I have seen first-hand the damage an addiction to online pornography can do to a relationship. Fortunately the person involved didn't know much about computers so I was able to nobble his by installing a porn-blocking program. Some adults are unable to control their lusts so anything that prevents them from feeding their desires is, IMHO, good.

[david63]

I'm glad it's not just me Ken as I was thinking the same.

This, to me, is just pandering to the media and a "vote winning" exercise.

For the hardened paedophile it will not make one bit of difference they will "know" where to look so filter or search blocking will affect them - and within that community they will, if they have not already done so, develop search phases that will find what they are looking for.

Taking SS's point above - this will do little or nothing as such people will be able to "opt in" and carry on as before.

As for "protecting" children then surely this is a parental responsibility? There was a report on the news last night that pre school age children were finding pornographic (definition?) images on the Internet. In my opinion a child of that age should not be using a compter unattended and in any event there are parental controls built into the operating system to prevent such occurrences. No matter what protocols are put in place there is no way that you will prevent someone from accidentally finding some sites - most of us have done it at some time.

There is only one way to stop all of this and it is actually, in theory very simple, and that is to make it illegal for hosting companies to host such sites - which many do now anyway. The problem comes in that the majority of such sites are hosted beyond the reach of our, and most other countries, jurisdiction and are not going to voluntarily stop as there is too much money involved. The other problem with this approach is that there is nothing to stop someone setting up a website on their own computer - but these days this is relatively easy to track down.

[Delboy]

I totally disagree with Ken and David on this issue, personally I could not care less if this is politically motivated or not, for me it's a step in the right direction, in order to try and stop this culture, there will always be ways round it, so lets not try.

The parentlal controls which are in place at the moment are not adequate enough, and unfortunately not all parents offer their children the same guidance and protection, we may offer our children.

At least with what is proposed all children and the vulnerable in our society will have the same protection we may give our children.

Of course there will always be ways round it for those intent to do so, but let them be the ones who have got to make the effort to do so, and not those responsible parents, who may not be computer savvy having to.

For me it is far better to have a system in place whereby people have to opt in to view it, than for those who don't having to opt out.

Perhaps then will will not get the filth with pictures, for all to see whether we wanted to or not, which happened recently on the P&O official Facebook page.

At least these proposal have opened up the debate on these issues, and have made people more aware of how dangerous the Internet has become, anything that helps to make it a safer place for our children to view, I welcome.

[The Tinker]

I agree totally with Ray - if the new measures protect even one child from being abused - it is well worth it.

Ken - why would you want to watch a film where a woman is raped? Would you get the same enjoyment if the tables were turned and it was a man being abused?

[Kendhni]

Ken - why would you want to watch a film where a woman is raped? Would you get the same enjoyment if the tables were turned and it was a man being abused?

It's not about enjoyment of a particular scene .. it is about the overall story line ... but I do enjoy watching the likes of 'Game of Thrones' and other series that depict such actions, not because of that action but for the wider story line. Similarly I know people enjoy the likes of Coronation Street and Eastenders one/both have depicted story lines involving rape .. and dont forget Family Guy.

[The Tinker]

For many people (frankly not me) soap operas are an endless source of entertainment and they can be a very powerful tool to change people's behaviour by raising awareness and showing alternatives.
You say you enjoy the wider picture of your choice of viewing but I would guess there is a 'dark side' lurking within you.

[Kendhni]

Could be ... my favourite genres are horror and sci fi
I used to be a great fan of the slasher and video nasty movies from the 1970's. Phantasm, Texas Chainsaw massacre, Evil Dead etc. etc .

[Silver_Shiney]

I like action films. When I'm watching one where the security forces are giving the villain his come-uppance, part of me wishes I was there putting the boot in. I know I shouldn't, but that's just part of my make-up. Because of this, though, I can easily see why those addicted to porn might be led to act out what they have watched. The stable door has been fixed open, the horse is ancient history but, as has been said, if this move can protect even one child, it is a move worth taking.

[The Tinker]

Putting my psychologist's hat on - do you watch these films alone?

[Silver_Shiney]

Putting my psychologist's hat on - do you watch these films alone?

Sometimes - usually when I'm doing the ironing

[Dark Knight]

I agree wholeheartedly with Dellboy
don't give a *** if it is politicking or spin or whatever other dismissive appellation you want to add
if it saves one small child from abduction and rape or stops one child from being filmed for a perverts delight, then bring it on and accompany it with some very harsh sentences and name and shame the ********

nanny state and censorship my ****, it is illegal and perverted and wrong on every level
so its about time someone had the guts to stand up and make as much noise about this as possible I just hope the government enforce this with every law and appropriate sentence available to them
and there is not one single reason for opposing, this not one

[Silver_Shiney]

absolutely.....

[ChesterfieldJohn]

Whilst I agree about Child Porn and abducting children this will not stop this and people are confusing the law.
This will stop anyone accessing normal porn not kiddy porn

Does anyone seriously imagine that paedophiles get their perverted pictures etc through a web search?

John

[Dark Knight]

go on then John
where do perverts get the thousand of video clips and pictures from then?
coz every time its in the news that some ****** has been caught with x number of pictures, they all seem to be on a laptop, downloaded from the web

[Silver_Shiney]

Whilst I agree about Child Porn and abducting children this will not stop this and people are confusing the law.
This will stop anyone accessing normal porn not kiddy porn

Does anyone seriously imagine that paedophiles get their perverted pictures etc through a web search?

John

Yes. A guy I know, who doesn't know the first thing about computers, managed to find such images. Fortunately, in those days, you had to pay for such "material" and the police tracked him through his credit card.