Germany to consider web censorship

Robert Hallock (Thrax)

June 16, 2009 4:32 PM ET in News, , ,

Ariel's nemesis

Purple hagtopus in disguise!

German Minister of Family Affairs Ursula von der Leyen has caved to every politican’s overwhelming need to jerk the establishment in the name of “protecting the children.” As a result of her efforts and a coalition between rival social democrat and conservative parties, German parliament will soon vote to implement an internet censorship mechanism.

Discussions lead by von der Leyen have outlined that the architecture is to fight the spread of child pornography. If approved, German ISPs would be obligated to implement the secret architecture to filter a list of sites maintained by the state.

On a scale of 1-10, most Deutsche are righteously pissed, as we all know damn well that politicians can’t keep their zeal in check.

The public outcry has not only included the internet elite, but the average citizen, which has lead to the nation’s most successful parliamentary petition in history. With more than 130,000 signatures in its six-week lifespan, the petition surpassed the minimum requirement of 50,000 in just three days.

As outrage grows, it has predictably spilled over to the Twitterverse where it can be followed under the delightfully clever #zensursula hashtag.

8 Comments:

  1. Komete
    17 Jun '09, 12:15 am

    Really, I don't see what the big deal is. Censorship gets a bad rap. Germany isn't going to become China by blocking child pornography.

  2. Thrax
    17 Jun '09, 12:35 am

    I guarantee that they'll block more than what they say they're trying to block. I promise. You know, Australia promised the same thing!

  3. Komete
    17 Jun '09, 2:21 am

    Well that's what oversight and wacthdog groups are for. Issues like these are complicated but to do nothing is far more reckless.

    When dealing with issues like these, the question of how do you balance human rights vs civil rights comes up. My thoughts are you try to find a middle ground and accept the fact from time to time toes will be stepped on each side.

    Even if this German initiative fails, I applaud them for trying.

  4. Thrax
    17 Jun '09, 2:24 am

    Or the German government could do what every other western nation is doing and treat infractions on a case-by-case basis, rather than instituting a filter which could easily be abused (and for that matter, has been in every nation that's tried it).

    National web filters are batting a perfect 0, and Germany isn't a unique snowflake.

    That aside, you present a false dilemma by saying that the alternative is "doing nothing." That's not true at all, and I've already explained why in my introduction.

  5. Komete
    17 Jun '09, 2:51 am

    Taking things "case by case" means there has to be a case to take. It does nothing to prevent it in the first place. The kid is already screwed up for life by the time a task force can locate them, If they ever do. I'm sure the overwhelming majority of the cases are not pursued.

    Peruse the criminals, block the sites, Limit The Revenues, and you will effectively reduce the amount of children abducted and more importantly decrease the incentive to do so.

    Case by case is not working and never has.

  6. CB
    17 Jun '09, 2:24 pm

    As rare as it is: I'm with Thrax on this one.

    Censorship is not the job of any national government or organization. All censorship of media should be done by the individual with the small exception of such material that truly victimizes other people (in which case, it's not really censorship anymore anyway).

    Even organizations like the FCC in the US have been co-opted into governors of content. The purpose of the FCC when founded was to find a way to divy up the limited bandwidth represented by broadcast airwaves. Over the years, this has morphed into an entity which sees itself as the babysitter of American broadcast content, and which foists its own values on every media absorbing person in the country.

    Any organization given regulation power of any kind over a media outlet eventually lets it's own agenda make the decisions, rather than the well-being of the citizens.

  7. Mr TRiot
    17 Jun '09, 5:15 pm

    Unknown to many people, Germany already censors sites that deny the holocaust. France does it as well...

    Surprising eh?

  8. Komete
    18 Jun '09, 12:37 am
    Quoting Mr TRiot

    Unknown to many people, Germany already censors sites that deny the holocaust. France does it as well...

    Surprising eh?

    I don't think people mind that a country will block sites that deny the holocaust. Maybe because it's a political hot topic. Child porn seems to be a different story unfortunately.

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