Prime Minister David Cameron has backed a proposal to censor the web of digital smut in an apparent attempt to protect children from pornography by forcing web users to “opt-in” to seeing X-rated material rather than the current “opt-out” option of installing a web filter.
However, the big four ISPs – BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media – have scoffed at such a suggestion and said that they have merely created a code of practice – certainly no requirements. These steps towards censorship show a government as out of touch with the digital landscape as the previous one – with both agreeing to the Digital Economy Act, which has since been stripped of any use by the courts.
The proposal addresses the ideas of the Bailey Report – written by Reg Bailey, CEO at Christian charity Mothers’ Union and released in the summer – where Bailey asks ISPs to make it easier for parents to block X-rated material on the internet.
What the government does not seem to understand is that all data is created equal. There is no way to scan all internet data being streamed to users around the UK for content that is pirated any more than there is for finding content that is X-rated. If they want to restrict access to adult content then they need the support of the adult industries, not the ISPs. And similarly for preventing the spread of pirated content – they need to target those at the top of the pyramid. ISPs are not the web’s policemen, and nor should they be – they provide the connections to the world wide web, the policing should be done by the police.
Not everything is as easy to block out as politician’s expenses forms.