Internet needs to stay free

EDITORIAL

Published: 18 Feb 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Three years ago, the parliament of Iceland was hailed worldwide as a bulwark of freedom for its bill to completely ban all internet censorship. This week, the same parliament takes up a government-sponsored bill to ban all internet pornography.

The sea change in attitude and emphasis reflects similar events in Thailand. Even after two decades of internet presence, Thai and foreign governments seem baffled by the information age. But the real scandal is that governments' politically driven attempts to police the internet are not so much wrong as wrong-headed.

The conversion of Iceland from free-speech protector to heavy-handed censor is a case in point. Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson seeks a specific law to install a Thailand-like firewall filter to stop pornography from being seen in Iceland by preventing internet browsers from gaining access to certain websites. As usual, the justification for the action is to stop the "threat to children".

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DickFarang
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Discussion 11 : 18 Feb 2013 at 21.0011
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The US have tried Prohibition (of alcoholic drinks, 1920-1933); it only increased the level of criminality.
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saparod
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Discussion 10 : 18 Feb 2013 at 16.1410
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Why worrying about porn on the internet if you can buy (cheaper) porn DVD's anywhere publicly on Bangkok's main streets, beautiful sections of dildos and other sex toys etc. If you need even more please visit the countless live sex shows etc.... and don't worry, all is protected by the man in brown!
So, the simple fact is that porn is not the issue here, its politicians trying hard to ensure the public does not have access to information which might hurt individuals! - But it does not work!
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felixqui
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Discussion 9 : 18 Feb 2013 at 13.459
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pquinian, re D7.
Thanks for the positive feedback, also the constructive disagreement with my assertion that "pornography doesn't hurt kids".

I was a bit worried about that myself. Parents might have good reasons for not allowing their kids to watch it. Like the equally plausible but false belief that making a drug legal increases use of that drug, the available evidence just doesn't seem to support the reasonable sounding claim that a bit of pornography harms kids. For example, Google "McKee, Alan (2010) Does pornography harm young people? Australian Journal of Communication, 37(1), pp. 17-36." for an academic assessment. We need facts
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JusMe
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Discussion 8 : 18 Feb 2013 at 13.148
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This isn't about pornography or gambling at all. It's all thought control, mainly politics.
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pquinlan
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Discussion 7 : 18 Feb 2013 at 13.017
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felixqui: you had me right until until you made the absolutely mind-boggling statement "Pornography doesn't hurt kids". The rest of your view is spot on, but, while I totally support your right to say what you want, this statement is so far off that it is hard to believe anyone would actually say such a thing.
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facts_only
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Discussion 6 : 18 Feb 2013 at 12.406
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whatajoke 2 - Use of proxies and VPNs for 'illegal purposes' (side-stepping censorship, gambling, and viewing pornography) is illegal in Thailand, as per the Computer Crime Act.
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JusMe
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Discussion 5 : 18 Feb 2013 at 12.015
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It's not really pornography or gambling they want to control - it's political thought.
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ringmaster
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Discussion 4 : 18 Feb 2013 at 10.384
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"For now, the CCA actually protects few but seeks to control everyone." Well said.
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felixqui
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Discussion 3 : 18 Feb 2013 at 09.113
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The same lame, lying excuse of "save the children" was used by democratic Athens to judicially murder Socrates. His real "crime" of course was teaching youth to ... to think, to value truth and to care for things like justice.

It is knowledge, justice and thinking that threaten static, fossilized status quos, and that is the real reason Socrates died. That is also the real reason for internet censorship - knowledge, reason and justice are threats to those who lust for stasis eternal against progress economically, socially and politically.

Pornography doesn't hurt kids: forced unreasoning ignorance does harm them.
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whatajoke
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Discussion 2 : 18 Feb 2013 at 08.522
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You can block porno sites but they just sidestep it by throwing up a page warning you that the site is 'blocked in your country' and advising you to download a proxy server program. Law doesn't allow the blocking of proxy servers. Problem solved in 5 minutes. Dumb policy makers: 0 - Internet generation: 1.
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