14 DAY TRIAL // David Cameron has been pretty radical in his stance against online porn, and he seems unwilling to back down despite public uproar. However, recent documents have surfaced showing that Europe might not be very keen on letting the leader of the Conservative Party get his way.
In his attempt to cleanse the Internet of the devil’s work and keep households free of any sexualized imagery, the politician announced during the UK elections that it would be ideal if access to porn was blocked by default on computers and mobiles.
In other words, if users felt the ardent need to have such content made available on their devices, then they would have to request access to it.
However, to the satisfaction of many introvert people who might not be so willing to go around asking others to restore their access to pornographic content, there is a small impediment that could prevent this idea from being put into practice, and that is Europe.
A leaked EU Council document seen by The Sunday Times suggests that Europe could make it illegal for Internet service providers as well as mobile companies to restrict access to porn, especially since users can use other methods to keep their children from accessing adult content.
One such measure would be using a Web filter that would determine if there are Internet pages that should not be displayed to the user.
People should be given the option to choose
Furthermore, the documents clearly state that the block should only be carried through if the person who benefits from the Internet service specifically requests it. Otherwise, there is no reason for Internet providers to impose any kind of restrictions.
In other words, parents who are worried that their children might come across obscene material online are free to ask their provider to restrict the content. What’s more, they should also be entitled to request the removal of the ban any time they consider it fit.
This document, which was reportedly written in connection with the principles of net neutrality, represents a huge blow to Cameron’s plan to filter the Internet and restrict users’ access to explicit content on the Web.