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Out-Law News 1 min. read

Government proposes porn-blocking at ISP level


ISPs should block pornographic content at the network level, forcing people who want to look at it to opt in, communications minister Ed Vaizey has said. A digital rights activist group has labelled the proposal censorship.

Vaizey's move is reported to be a response to worries that children are being exposed to sexual content. To stop this, he told The Sunday Times at the weekend, he wants internet service providers (ISPs) to allow access to pornographic material only to those who specifically ask for it.

"This is a very serious matter," said Vaizey, according to a statement from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), in which Vaizey works. "I think it's very important that it's the ISPs that come up with solutions to protect children."

"I'm hoping they will get their acts together so we don't have to legislate, but we are keeping an eye on the situation and we will have a new communications bill in the next couple of years," he said.

The proposal is being opposed by the Open Rights Group (ORG), a digital rights lobby group, which warned that it could have unintended and far-reaching consequences.

"This is the wrong way to go," said ORG executive director Jim Killock. "If the government controlled a web blacklist, you can bet that Wikileaks would be on it."

"This is not about pornography, it is about generalised censorship through the back door," said Killock.

BIS said that Vaizey would debate the issue with the ISP industry in an attempt to find a solution to the problem that he identified.

"Ed Vaizey recently spoke at a Westminster Hall debate on this issue and he confirmed that we would hold a roundtable debate on age verification," said a BIS statement. "There is no confirmed date yet and we are currently in the process of setting this up."

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