The Daily BuzzBritain announces tough anti-pornography laws
Brits who want to watch pornography might soon need to have an awkward conversation with their Internet Service Provider, asking the company to unblock sexy content on their connection.
Britain intends to block access to all pornography by default starting near the end of this year, Prime Minister David Cameron announced in a speech on Monday.
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Eventually, Britain plans to weed out access to extreme or violent pornography and create a blacklist of search terms pedophiles might use, according to the Guardian. Cameron said in his speech that it's time to act against child pornography and sexual exploitation.
"I want to talk about the internet, the impact it is having on the innocence of our children, how online pornography is corroding childhood and how, in the darkest corners of the internet, there are things going on that are a direct danger to our children, and that must be stamped out."
There's some question about whether Cameron's approach will, in fact, protect children and reduce abuse. Mic Wright at the UK Telegraph wrote that Cameron's policies are misdirected, in part because they conflate child pornography with pedophilia when there's little evidence to suggest those who watch adult porn will ever switch to child porn.
However, Iceland drafted legislation against porn this year on the grounds that sexual images online could be damaging relationships and traumatizing children who see them, according to the Guardian.
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Laws against pornography often create vicious debate. Former Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews once famously told critics of an online monitoring bill they were either with the government or with the "child pornographers."
As always, the matter isn't quite so simple as that.
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