Perry and the Blockheads…Claire Perry’s parliamentary inquiry reiterates her call for a default ISP block on adult content

Read more UK Parliament Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from dailymail.co.uk

Claire Perry’s parliamentary inquiry has reiterated her call for a default ISP block on adult content. Anyone wanting to view hardcore images online [or any other adult content such as Melon Farmers] would have to opt out of the default blocking, according to a panel of MPs and peers looking into child protection. Their report said that six out of ten children download adult material because their parents have not installed filters. The use of blocking filters in homes has fallen from 49% to 39% in the last three years. They concluded that parents were often outsmarted by their web-savvy children and felt unconfident in updating and downloading content filters. Many parents were oblivious to the type of material available on the internet and were often ‘shocked’ when they realised the content that children were accessing. Claire Perry, the Tory MP who chaired the non-governmental Parliamentary Inquiry on Online Child Protection, said: This is hugely worrying. While parents should be responsible for their children’s online safety, in practice, people find it difficult to put content filters on the plethora of internet-enabled devices in their homes. The inquiry called for ISPs to offer one-click filtering for all devices within a year. This would block out adult content for all domestic broadband users and stop them accessing pornography on mobiles and iPads as well as PCs and laptops. The inquiry said that the Government should launch an official inquiry into internet filtering and ministers should seek backstop legal powers to intervene should the ISPs fail to implement an appropriate solution. Carefully selected witnesses before the inquiry pointed to changes in the availability of hard-core images: As a result, more hard-core imagery is now available in the “free shop front” of commercial porn sites, the report said. It also found that only 3% of porn sites asked for proof of age and 66% did not contain any warning that they were for adults only.

Can ‘Healing on the Streets’ Heal Belief in Nonsense?…Group of MPs challenge the ASA for banning adverts containing nonsense healing claims

Read more UK Parliament Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Thanks to Sergio See article from totalpolitics.com

Last month the advertising censors at the ASA banned a christian group, Healing on the Streets – Bath, from making nonsense claims about their healing services. They censured a leaflet which stated: NEED HEALING? GOD CAN HEAL TODAY! Do you suffer from Back Pain, Arthritis, MS, Addiction … Ulcers, Depression, Allergies, Fibromyalgia, Asthma, Paralysis, Crippling Disease, Phobias, Sleeping disorders or any other sickness? We’d love to pray for your healing right now! We’re Christian from churches in Bath and we pray in the name of Jesus. We believe that God loves you and can heal you from any sickness. Now MPs from the Christians in Parliament group are challenging the ASA decision. Gary Streeter (Con), Gavin Shuker (Lab) and Tim Farron (Lib Dem), have written to Chris Smith, Chairman of the Advertising Standards Agency: We are writing on behalf of the all-party Christians in Parliament group in Westminster and your ruling that the Healing On The Streets ministry in Bath are no longer able to claim, in their advertising, that God can heal people from medical conditions. We write to express our concern at this decision and to enquire about the basis on which it has been made. It appears to cut across two thousand years of Christian tradition and the very clear teaching in the Bible. Many of us have seen and experienced physical healing ourselves in our own families and churches and wonder why you have decided that this is not possible. On what scientific research or empirical evidence have you based this decision? You might be interested to know that I (Gary Streeter) received divine healing myself at a church meeting in 1983 on my right hand, which was in pain for many years. After prayer at that meeting, my hand was immediately free from pain and has been ever since. What does the ASA say about that? I would be the first to accept that prayed for people do not always get healed, but sometimes they do. That is all this sincere group of Christians in Bath are claiming. It is interesting to note that since the traumatic collapse of the footballer Fabrice Muamba the whole nation appears to be praying for a physical healing for him. I enclose some media extracts. Are they wrong also and will you seek to intervene? We invite your detailed response to this letter and unless you can persuade us that you have reached your ruling on the basis of indisputable scientific evidence, we intend to raise this matter in Parliament.

Rare Let Up…Britain set to relax live music restrictions

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In a Britain being impoverished by suffocating state fees and restrictions, is this the first minor improvement in actually letting entertainers earn some money? See article from bbc.co.uk

A private member’s bill, introduced by Liberal Democrat Don Foster, will lift some of the state control and restrictions imposed on gigs by the 2003 Licensing Act. The changes will mean that a licence will no longer be required for unamplified live music taking place between 08:00 and 23:00, and for amplified live music taking place between the same times before audiences of no more than 200. The bill passed unopposed and will have to go back to the House Of Lords on the 10th of February before becoming law. The MP from Bath was steering the bill through the House Of Commons on behalf of his Lib Dem colleague, Lord Clement Jones. The success is a relatively rare example of a House of Lords private member’s bill making it into law. Foster explained: It was said the Licensing Act 2003 was going to lead to an explosion of live music but, in the event, in small venues it was drastically cut. We saw village halls, school halls, pubs and clubs reducing the the amount of live music, not increasing it. Hopefully the bill, when it comes into law, will reverse that. Separate to the private member’s bill, the government is conducting its own review of the Licensing Act.

Striking Back…BBC issues a response to complaints about Jeremy Clarkson’s strike joke and a nutter MP tries to invoke a parliamentary rebuke

Read more BBC and BBC Trust Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from bbc.co.uk

The BBC has published a response to complaints about Jeremy Clarkson’s jolly gape that strikers should be shot. The BBC said: As has now been widely reported, we had many complaints about a number of Jeremy Clarkson’s comments on the show. The One Show is a live topical programme which often reflects the day’s talking points. Usually we get it right, but on this occasion we feel the item wasn’t perfectly judged. The presenters apologised at the end of the programme to viewers who were offended by his comments and the BBC and Jeremy would like to apologise for any offence caused. Jeremy has said: I didn’t for a moment intend these remarks to be taken seriously — as I believe is clear if they’re seen in context. If the BBC and I have caused any offence, I’m quite happy to apologise for it alongside them. Meanwhile the Labour MP of Kingston Upon Hull East, Karl Turner, has proposed an early day motion whingeing about Clarkson as follows: That this House condemns the disgraceful and disgusting remarks made by Jeremy Clarkson on the BBC; notes that his comments have been criticised by thousands of licence payers, hon. Members and unions; believes that his remarks were inflammatory and have left workers and their children shocked and upset; further believes that high profile TV presenters have influence on their audience and should act with responsibility at all times; calls on the Government to give a full response; and urges the BBC Director General to commence disciplinary proceedings.

Inciting Censorship…Private members bill introduced to give police censorship powers over YouTube videos

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See article from guardian.co.uk

MP Heidi Alexander has launched a private members bill allowing police to censor social media videos that incite violence. She has been in the forefront of attacks against social media since the riots in August. MPs have now backed a call for police to be given censorship powers to block or take down YouTube videos that could incite violence.  MPs voted in favour of allowing Alexander to bring forward her bill, which will receive a second reading in March. However, the proposals are unlikely to become law without government support. Alexander told MPs: I am introducing this bill because I am appalled by the proliferation of online videos which glorify gangs and serious youth violence. Police, via the courts and internet service providers, need to be given explicit power to get these videos taken down or access to them blocked. I recognise the policing of the internet is always going to be incredibly difficult but unless we start to grapple with the online manifestation of gangs, I question our ability to really tackle the problem We can talk about gang injunctions all we like, and yes, there may be a need to stop a certain individual or group coming into a certain area at a certain time, but don’t we too need to recognise that the same individual may be causing an equal amount of fear by his or her actions sat on a computer at home, or spreading these vile videos through social networking sites? Similar powers already exist to take down or block access to websites that could incite racial hatred or feature extremist material.

Dangerous Words…Parliamentary task force examines hate speech on the internet

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See article from computeractive.co.uk

A UK Government Task Force is meeting to discuss ways of combating the growing supposed problem of people publishing bigoted statements on websites. The Internet Hate Speech Task Force hearing follows a meeting attended by MPs and ISPs.  At that discussion, Israel’s Minister of Public Affairs and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein claimed: The issue of hate on the internet needs greater attention given its scope and potential for harm.! The task force is hosted by John Mann MP and was set up by the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism (ICCA). It will look at the nature and scope of internet hate. This will include racism, religious hate speech, misogyny and homophobia. The types of hate speech that are appearing on the internet will be examined as will the various online media through which it appears. The hearing will also highlight the impact that internet hate can have, including its role in fostering hate crimes, and it will include testimonies from experts and witnesses. Further hearings will be scheduled by the Task Force and a report containing recommendations is due in late 2012

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 Talking Shop…Claire Perry’s parliamentary inquiry hears a few views on the subject of online child protection

Read more UK Parliament Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from telegraph.co.uk

The Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Child Protection has begun to take comments from a rather predictably selective group. The committee has heard comments from the Lucy Faithful Foundation, the Mother’s Union, YoungMinds, Marie Collins Foundation, Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology at LSE, Jacqui Smith,  the Sun’s agony aunt Deidre Sanders and Jerry Barnett, managing director of the UK’s largest adult VOD site. Jacqui Smith, the disgraced former Home Secretary, had a few ideas that caught the interest. She told the Inquiry that online pornography should be made harder to access in Britain, but that the quid pro quo for helping the industry to remain profitable might be that it could help fund sex education programmes for children. She said that the online pornography industry is not illegal, and it is being impacted by free and unregulated content on the internet. She proposed that if all adult content were only accessible to customers who specifically opted in to it through their internet service providers, then the adult industry might see its profits improved. Online porn has suffered economically in the wake of free YouTube-style sites. She added after the inquiry. If there are restrictions put on to what people can see, that will have a beneficial effect on the industry. If government or ISPs put in place restrictions that does enable the mainstream industry to [recover economically], that would be the point at which you could apply pressure. Smith was keen to stress that she did not propose limiting or censoring legal pornography, but that she wanted to make sure only people who were allowed to see it could do so. I genuinely don’t think mainstream pornographers want young people to see their material because it risks limiting what they can make for adults, she said. She conceded that her proposal may be technically challenging. She said that the adult industry was already in a parlous state and that it would be unlikely to be able to fund education programmes at the moment. She said that although the chances of her proposals coming to fruition are not great, there are reasonable people in the porn industry. The committee will take evidence from ISPs next month.

Old Joke…Parliamentary committee resurrect the very old debate about Frankie Boyle’s Katie Price joke

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See article from dailymail.co.uk

The boss of Channel 4 has refused to apologise for airing a joke about Katie Price’s disabled son. At a heated parliamentary hearing, David Abraham was condemned for the decision to show it. But although he was repeatedly asked to apologise, he did not. Abraham said we only ever had satirical intent. The joke about the former glamour model Jordan’s son was made by Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle on his Tramadol Nights series last year. At a meeting of the Culture Media and Sport Committee, Tory MP Louise Bagshawe, repeated the joke and told Abraham: This is a disabled little boy we are talking about. I am bewildered you can sit here and say that it is challenging political correctness — and that you will not apologise to the little boy for having put him on a television programme in this context. Surely no cultural remit could ever possibly justify such a joke? Channel 4′s chairman Lord Burns, also at the hearing, said: Personally, if it has caused distress to the son, then obviously I’m very sorry.