[x-pubpol] UK: PM to consider porn blocking plans

[Joly MacFie]

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/374479/pm-to-consider-porn-blocking-plans

By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 4 May 2012 at 09:10

The Prime Minister is expected to announce formal plans to look into
network-level filtering of pornography from the web, as the MP leading the
charge said blocking sites wasn't censorship.


A Downing Street source told *The Times* that David Cameron will announce a
consultation into existing laws regarding internet porn, including whether
consumers should be forced to "opt in" with their ISPs to receive adult
content.

"Nothing is ruled in or out at the moment," the source told the paper. "We
will look at all the options."


 There is a 'hands off our internet' movement that sees any change in how
access is delivered as censorship

 The campaign to block adult content from the web and require customers to
"opt in" to receive it has been led by MP Claire Perry - and backed by *The
Daily Mail*<http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/374272/daily-mail-calls-for-online-porn-ban>.
It initially met with little support from the Prime Minister, and has been
criticised by digital rights groups and industry bodies.


"I'm not zealous about this - I just want the facts," Perry told the
newspaper. "If we can see that the idea of an 'opt-in' system is
technologically difficult or bad for the economy, then fine. But the
problem with the debate is we need to know the facts." Perry last month
released a report from an inquiry she led into the issue, calling *Sun
*columnist
Dear Deidre as the first expert
witness<http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2012/04/19/dear-deidre-what-the-hell-do-you-know-about-web-censorship/>
.


She suggested that blocking websites didn't amount to censorship. "There is
a 'hands off our internet' movement that sees any change in how access is
delivered as censorship," she said. "We are not being prudish, but we just
think the current method of blocking that material is broken."


Perry previously told *PC Pro* and its readers to "get a grip" over web
censorship fears<http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/374461/mp-tells-pc-pro-to-get-a-grip-over-web-censorship-fears>
.

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