Internet censorship in the United Kingdom

British Telecommunications ISP passes internet traffic through a service called Cleanfeed which uses data provided by the Internet Watch Foundation to identify pages believed to contain indecent photographs of children. [" [http://www.iwf.org.uk/media/news.archive-2004.39.htm IWF/BT Project CleanFeed] ", Internet Watch Foundation. Retrieved 29 May 2006.] " [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4689386.stm How net providers stop child porn] ", BBC News, 7 February 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2006.] When such a page is found, the system creates a 'URL not found page' error rather than deliver the actual page or a warning page. Other ISPs use different systems such as WebMinder [http://www.webminder.net/] .

In 2003, after the murder of Jane Longhurst by a man who claimed to have an obsession with Internet pornography, [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/southern_counties/3455327.stm Man guilty of teacher murder] ", BBC News, 4 February 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2006.] the family campaigned to tighten laws regarding pornography on the Internet and have gained support such that possession may become illegal. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/3471441.stm MP calls for violent porn ban] , BBC News, 9 February 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2006.] What the Government has termed "extreme pornography" could now become illegal to possess. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6237226.stm 'Extreme' porn proposals spark row] ] The government has begun to crack down on sites depicting rape, strangulation, torture and necrophilia. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3460855.stm UK police seek web porn crackdown] , BBC News, 5 February 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2006.] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4151862.stm Crackdown due on violent web porn] ", BBC News, 15 August 2005. Retrieved 29 May 2006.]

In Scotland, 2004, a committee of Members of the Scottish Parliament has backed a call to ban adult pornography as the Equal Opportunities Committee supported a petition claiming links between porn and sexual crimes and violence against women and children. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3975523.stm MSPs back pornography ban calls] ", BBC News, 2 November 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2006.] A spokeswoman said "While we have no plans to legislate we will, of course, continue to monitor the situation."

The new Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker has set a deadline of the end of 2007 for all ISPs to implement a “cleanfeed”-style network level content blocking platform." [http://publicaffairs.linx.net/news/?p=497 Government sets deadline for universal network-level content blocking] ", LINX, 29 May 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2006.] [" [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/18/uk_site_blocking/ Govt sets target for blocking child porn sites] ", The Register, 18 May 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2006.] Currently, the only websites ISPs are expected to block access to are sites the Internet Watch Foundation has identified as containing images of child pornography. However such a platform is capable of blocking access to any website added to the list (at least, to the extent that the implementation is effective), making it a simple matter to change this policy in future. The Home Office has previously indicated that it has considered requiring ISPs to block access to articles on the web deemed to be “glorifying terrorism”, within the meaning of the new Terrorism Act 2006, saying "However, our legislation as drafted provides the flexibility to accommodate a change in Government policy should the need ever arise." The measures have been criticised for being inadequate as they only block accidental viewing and does not prevent content delivered through encrypted systems, file sharing, email and other systems. [" [http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=97151 Restricting All but the Predators] ", Dark Reading, 14 June 2006. URL accessed on 24 June 2006.]

There have been concerns over the increasing amount of internet regulation and fears that the Internet may become more restricted in future, with critics drawing parallels with George Orwell's 1984. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3797563.stm Doubts over web filtering plans] ", BBC News, Bill Thompson, 11 June 2004. Retrieved 19 May 2006.] [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/923595.stm The end of the internet?] ", BBC News, 14 September 2000. Retrieved 29 May 2006.]

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