The UK and its leading Conservative government have been looking for a long time now at ways toblock online pornography, in the name of children’s safety. But it looks like the EU is not at all happy with the country’s approach, which it deems to be against the people’s interests.
A leaked EU document showed that David Cameron’s approach to online pornography – have it banned by default and make people opt in – has not been viewed in positive terms in Brussels. The issue of net neutrality comes up, with the EU reportedly considering making the PM’s plan illegal. Instead, the European officials would opt for a system that allows pornography by default with users, then being able to opt into a deal where the ISP blocks such content. The user would also be able to back out of the agreement with the ISP at any time.
John Carr, a government adviser on online safety and security for children and an executive member on the board of the UK council on Child Internet Safety, was quick to mention that such a proposal from the EU would destroy “a major plank of the UK’s approach to online child protection”.
But despite Carr’s objections, the EU’s approach makes a lot more sense in terms of users’ rights: instead of having to opt-in for content that is legally available to you, you’d now have to opt-in if you want those rights restricted for some reason or other. It also, at least partially, eases the burden on ISPs who have had to deal with numerous issues thanks to the Tory government’s blanket approach.
Whether the EU moves forward with such a proposal, or the UK adopts a different approach, remains to be seen in the next few months.
Source: Sunday Times via: Beta News | Internet porn image via Shutterstock
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