UK Porn Filter May Censor More than Stated
Some providers vowing to fight back
UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday that British Internet service providers (ISPs) must install porn filters and require customers to opt-in for adult content. Cameron said the policy is aimed at combating child porn and the "corroding influences" of sexual content in the UK, but several people are unhappy with the plan. Reports have linked the filters to controversial Chinese company Huawei, and others have found that the filters will block much more than just porn. Some ISPs have publically refused to force the filters on their users.
The Open Rights Group spoke with several ISPs and found that in addition to pornography, users will also be required to opt in for any content tagged as violent material, extremist and terrorist related content, anorexia and eating disorder websites, suicide related websites, alcohol, smoking, web forums, esoteric material and web blocking circumvention tools. These will all be filtered by default, and the majority of users never change default settings with online services.
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Give me porn or give me death!
“esoteric material”
I love how these kinds of nanny-state BS over-reaching proposals get labeled with sensationalistic phrases like “child porn” and even “terrorist related” – and then slip in a category which could be applied to just about anything the eye of the beholder wants to call bad.
Won’t somebody think of the children!
This isn’t surprising coming from the British government but it will be a bit surprising if the British people accept it.
It is pretty clever though, people will have to explicitly opt in to have this access. That should save the surveillance state a lot of time figuring out who to watch.