Howes That!…Elspeth Howe’s internet censorship bill fails to win government support

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See article from pcpro.co.uk See details and progress of the bill from publications.parliament.uk

Elspeth Howe’s Bill introduced to the House of Lords a few days ago required ISPs to default to a censored internet feed until an adult subscriber requests otherwise and verifies that they are adult. The bill also requires internet devices to be sold with pre-installed blocking software and to provide information about internet safety. However it is a private members bill and is rather muddying the water for alternative initiatives undertaken by industry in response to pressure from the government and nutter campaigners. For the moment the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has said it would not support the bill, as industry was already taking steps to address the issue. A DCMS spokesman said: We understand the sentiment behind this Private Members Bill, but it isn’t something that Government would support. Much can be achieved through self-regulation and it can be more effective than a regulatory approach in delivering flexible solutions that work for both industry and consumers. Howe’s Bill reads: Online Safety Bill (HL Bill 137) 1 Duty to provide a service that excludes pornographic images (1) Internet service providers must provide to subscribers an internet access service which excludes pornographic images unless all the conditions of subsection (3) have been fulfilled. (2) Where mobile telephone network operators provide a telephone service to subscribers which includes an internet access service, they must ensure this service excludes pornographic images unless all the conditions of subsection (3) have been fulfilled. (3) The conditions are— (a) the subscriber opts-in to subscribe to a service that includes pornographic images; (b) the subscriber is aged 18 or over; and (c) the provider of the service has an age verification policy which has been used to confirm that the subscriber is aged 18 or over. (4) In subsection (3)— opts-in means a subscriber notifies the service provider of his or her consent to subscribe to a service that includes pornographic images. 2 Duty to provide a means of filtering online content Manufacturers of electronic devices must provide customers with a means of 20filtering content from an internet access service at the time the device is purchased. 3 Duty to provide information about online safety Internet service providers and mobile telephone network operators must provide prominent, easily accessible and clear information about online safety to customers at the time the internet service is purchased and shall make such 5information available for the duration of the service. Note, the definition of “pornographic” is taken from the Dangerous Pictures Act: An image is “pornographic” if it is of such a nature that it must reasonably be assumed to have been produced solely or principally for the purpose of sexual arousal.

Howe Censorial…Elspeth Howe introduces Lords private Members bill to mandatorily block adult content unless adults specifically ask otherwise

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See article from christian.co.uk

The first legislative attempt to introduce an opt-in system for accessing adult internet content, has been introduced to the House of Lords. Of course private members bills have little chance of becoming law unless they capture a large consensus of support including the government. The Online Safety Private Members Bill was introduced by Baroness Elspeth Howe, who wants to require ISPs and mobile phone companies to block adult content, unless an adult user specifically asks for it. And the bill has predictably won the backing of the Christian  campaign group CARE, who claim it is important that the government look at providing a safe online environment for web savvy children. The Private Members Bill is calling for ISPs and mobile phone operators to provide a service that allows adult customers to make decisions about what sort of content they want blocking on their home broadband or their children’s mobile phones. Howe’s Bill is based on MP Claire Perry’s campiagn. The government said at the time that they are in favour of the proposals put forward, but would like the industry to self-regulate and bring about these changes without amending primary legislation. Last year the industry made the pledge to bring forward self-regulatory measures, but did not go as far as endorsing the requirement to have an opt-in to access pornography through a filter at network level. Howe said: Historically, most internet content has escaped regulation. A laudable industry-wide effort in the UK resulted in the Clean Feed system that blocks illegal child abuse imagery, but there has always been a reluctance to block, or limit access to, other forms of adult material due to the international nature of internet content.

Banging On…Keith Vaz calls for a debate on violent computer game censorship

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See article from theyworkforyou.com

Business of the House House of Commons 1st December 2011 Keith Vaz (Leicester East, Labour) Could we have a debate next week about the harmful effects of violent video games? Last week, the university of Indiana published research that showed that regularly playing those games resulted in physical changes in the brain. At a time when parents are thinking of purchasing video games for Christmas, does the right hon. Gentleman not think that it is important to hold a debate on this matter? This is not about censorship—it is about protecting our children. George Young (Leader of the House of Commons, House of Commons; North West Hampshire, Conservative) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, and I know that this is an issue that he has pursued with vigour for some time. I cannot promise a debate next week. Home Office questions, I think, will be held on 12 December, but in the meantime I will draw his concern to the attention of the Home Secretary. Last week Game Politics pointed out that the research cited was in fact supported by the Center for Successful Parenting, Indiana. This is in fact a nutter group with a website that is designed for parents to learn about the negative side effects of violent video. See article about the cited research from melonfarmers.co.uk.

Banging On…Nutter MP presents a petition backing her call to appoint the BBFC as book censors for sex education material

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See article from thehunsburyherald.com

Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom has presented a 45,000 signature petition to Schools Minister Nick Gibb. Leadsom is campaigning against explicit sex education in primary schools and feels that the BBFC are ideally placed to provide their censorship expertise to sex education materials. She said: The Department for Education is currently drafting new guidelines for schools on sex and relationship education (SRE) and I would like to see a form of independent classification of the material used. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has been rating films for 99 years and seems to be well placed to assess material, and I am sure that this would give worried parents some peace of mind in knowing what their children were seeing. To see some of the images being shown to very young children in our primary schools was genuinely shocking. After presenting the petition, Leadsom had a meeting with Gibb and a number of Northamptonshire parents. I know the Minister takes this matter very seriously and I hope he will take on board my idea of allowing the BBFC to age rate material, she said.

Reflections of China…Social networking bosses appear for questioning by parliamentary committee

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See article from blog.indexoncensorship.org

Commons Home Affairs select committee, 11th September 2011 Following accusations that social media were used to play a key role in the social unrest in August, representatives from Research in Motion, Twitter and Facebook appeared for questioning by the Commons Home Affairs select committee. Stephen Bates, Managing Director of BlackBerry’s Research in Motion, Richard Allen, Director of Policy at Facebook and Alexander McGilvray of Twitter were questioned by the committee, chaired by MP Keith Vaz, regarding the role of social media in the riots which spread across the country in August, and the trio insisted that all three platforms were used as a force for good. In the midst of the unrest, calls were made to shut down social networking, particularly BlackBerry messenger, as it was suggested that this was being used to organise violence. Cutting off Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry messenger in times of unrest seems no different to the censoring this kind of media experiences in China and oppressive countries over the world. The committee heard that should it be necessary, all three of the representatives of the social media, who work within frameworks to condone with the law, would not resist closing down social media, but did not feel that it would be necessary. Bates, Allen and McGilvray all said that throughout the unrest in August, social media were used in a positive way — to contact family and friends to advise that users were safe, to help clean-up in the wake of the riots, and perhaps most importantly as a tool of communication, used to quell and correct rumours. A key issue addressed by the committee was responsibility. Bates admitted that BlackBerry messenger had been used in a malicious way to organise crime, but stressed the need for balance when addressing the issue. Keith Vaz advised that there may be times when closing down social media was necessary, asking Why should the government not use the powers to close down these networks if there is mass disorder and this is the only way to stop it happening.

MP Gordon Henderson Doesn’t Believe in Censorship…But then launches into a banal diatribe against internet porn anyway

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See article from kentnews.co.uk

Sittingbourne and Sheppey Tory MP Gordon Henderson said unrestricted access to the web and a lack of parental responsibility had created an everything is free mentality among a minority of young people. He is one of more than 60 members of a cross-party group involved in a Parliamentary inquiry into online child protection. He spouted: There’s a risk of children being groomed by strangers on the internet but it’s a relatively low risk because most young people have the nouse to not get sucked in. The danger of the internet is more insidious than that. It’s the slow seeping of access to porn images that then slowly erodes the moral fibre of young people, which in turn adds to the social problems we currently face. Much of what we saw with the rioting and looting was due to a breakdown in morality among young people. Easy access to the internet just reinforces the message that everything is free and you never have to work for anything. That’s got to change. There’s the possibility we overreact and I’m not a great believer in censorship or an internet clampdown. Most children are sensible enough to not put themselves in dangerous situations…BUT…there are others who are vulnerable and need protection. The inquiry has got to look more at parental responsibility and access to the internet rather than a censorship of the internet itself.

Nutter at the Helm…Claire Perry to head yet another Parliamentary inquiry child protection on the internet

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See article from publicaffairs.linx.net

Parliament has announced a another inquiry into online child safety, to be headed by Conservative MP and anti-porn campaigner Claire Perry. She got noticed due to her impractical campaign to force ISPs to block porn unless people opt to receive it. According to a press release on Claire Perry’s constituency website, the inquiry will seek: 1) To understand better the extent to which children access on-line pornography and the potential for harm that this may cause 2) To determine what British Internet Service Providers have done to date to protect children online and the extent and possible impact of their future plans in this area 3) To determine what additional tools parents require to protect children from inappropriate content 4) To establish the arguments for and against network level filtering of content that would require an 18 rating in other forms of media 5) To recommend to Government the possible form of regulation required if ISPs fail to meet Recommendation no.5 from the Bailey Review. Public evidence sessions will take place in Committee Room 7, House of Commons between 14:00 and 16:00 on September 8th and October 18th. The inquiry will include approximately 60 MPs and gather feedback from ISPs as well as parents and many others [but probably not those who actually enjoy adult material on the internet]. A final report is expected in November 2011.

US Laughs While UK Censors…The Daily Show On More4 censored for using parliamentary TV coverage in a satire

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Thanks to Nick Based on article from newstatesman.com

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has a Global Edition that condenses 4 US episodes into one programme. But this week, even the Global Edition didn’t make it on to British TV screens nor catch up TV. Blogger Chris Spyrou noticed it and brought it to the attention of the TV writer Graham Linehan, who asked Channel 4 about it. A tweet from Channel 4 Insider, the broadcaster’s official presence on Twitter, called it compliance problems. The full reason, tweeted a short while later, was this: We are prevented by parliamentary rules from broadcasting parliamentary proceedings in a comedic or satrical context. The user @fiatpanda later uncovered this response to a Freedom of Information request from Channel 4, which stated: Guidelines specify that no extracts from parliamentary proceedings may be used in comedy shows or other light entertainment, such as political satire. But broadcasters are allowed to include parliamentary items in magazine programmes containing musical or humourous features, provided the reports are kept separate. The scene in question was David Cameron facing tough parliamentary questions about phone hacking being compared to anaemic questioning that occurs in the US version of parliament.

Playschool Statistics…Floella Benjamin quotes bollox statistic in support of ISP internet blocking

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So 80% of 8 year olds haven’t ever seen any nudity and the rest may just have seen one nude image in their entire life. Hardly evidence of very much at all. See article from telegraph.co.uk

One in five eight-year-olds has seen nude images while surfing the internet, according to Baroness Floella Benjamin, the Liberal Democrat peer and former children’s television presenter. Lady Benjamin said children needed protection from exposure to harmful content. She called on Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, to introduce new safeguards. In a recent survey, 20 per cent of eight-year-olds said that they had seen nudity online, Lady Benjamin told peers during a House of Lords debate. She asked Baroness Rawlings, the Tory spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport: Are you aware that on the most popular websites children are exposed to advertising of an adult nature and are invited to explore links to very explicit websites? If so, will the Government consider encouraging Ofcom to take further measures to protect children and young people being targeted in this way by putting in place simple and practical steps so that online media owners can take action to prevent clear-cut examples of inappropriate content appearing in places where children are likely to see them?

Claire Perry and the Blockheads…Fiona Mactaggart joins those calling for a blocked internet by default

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See article from pcpro.co.uk

Labour MP Fiona Mactaggert has added her name to the call for internet blocking to be turned on by default. They are whingeing that TalkTalk’s network-level porn filter doesn’t go far enough because it is only enable for those that request it. Last year, Tory MP Claire Perry called for ISPs to block porn at source. TalkTalk responded with the launch of HomeSafe, a filtering system that claims to block adult websites or P2P file-sharing on all devices on the home network. TalkTalk claims 50,000 customers have already signed up for the opt-in filtering system. Mactaggart and Perry have now repeated calls for the system to be switched on by default. Frankly, the way to make sure we have this protection while still having choice is to have a network-level filter built in, said Perry: I still think that’s the simplest way to do it. I remain convinced of that. That view was backed by Shelia Eaton, president of the National Council for Women, who said such a filter needed to be on by default as parents often don’t know as much about technology as their children. However, Perry was contradicted by her senior Government colleague and Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey, who said he wasn’t fussed what sort of system the ISPs opted for, so long as he sees genuine action from ISPs to give parents easily accessible tools that [mean] that kind of content isn’t seen by children. The TalkTalk system was also welcomed by Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet, who said parents just want a simple way to control what their children can access online. It’s about offering parents the ability to stop their kids stumbling across this content, she said.