CyberLaw Blog

Archive for the ‘Content Regulation’ Category

YouTube pulls Columbine videos: “YouTube removes a selection of videos glorifying the Columbine school killers, following a BBC investigation.”

(Via BBC News.)

Web providers to be named and shamed over offensive content

Politicians are ready to introduce league tables naming and shaming the speed with which internet service providers take down offensive material.

The culture minister, Barbara Follett, and her Tory shadow, Ed Vaizey, have backed the idea that web providers must be embarrassed into dealing with violent, sexually explicit web content.

Follett said she wants to see the pre-screening of material on sites such as YouTube, as occurs at present on MySpace. She admitted there was growing chaos out there on the internet, and order needed to be brought.

She has also admitted barriers aimed at preventing children from accessing over-age material on the internet are not just porous but leak like a sieve. ‘People can get straight through it, or straight by it.’

Follett warned: ‘We must teach children of the dangers of the internet. It is sad to make children more scared than interested, but fortunately the internet is so interesting that children tend to overcome their fear.’

Discussing the internet and video games at a Westminster debate and facing suggestions that the industry is lax about controlling content, Follett said: ‘We agree information about take-down times and levels of search need to be much clearer.’ Asked if she supported league tables of take-down times by internet service providers, she said ‘name and shame can sometimes can work very well indeed.’

Follett said: ‘Many people have said that the internet is like the wild west in the gold rush and that sooner or later it will be regulated. What we need is for it to be regulated sooner rather than later.

‘We need the service providers to come forward and show that they are the sort of responsible organisations whose services we can trust to our children.’

She added: ‘We must ensure that search engines have a clear link to child safety information and safe search settings on the front page of their website.’

She also said she saw ’some value in some form of age identity card for the internet. It is useful when it comes to alcohol and cigarettes and it is certainly useful when it comes to buying video games and other material on the internet.’

She added parents needed ‘control software to communicate automatically with websites’ age verification systems to prevent children from signing up to sites with false dates of birth.’

In theory social networking sites are not supposed to be accessed by anyone under 13, but this guideline is totally ignored. She said she was interested in some form of ‘age identification card’, or requiring banks to specify on credit card statements that the card had been used to access internet sites or games, so parents could be warned of their child’s activities.

She also said she backed pre-screening of user-generated internet content saying she was glad this was being carried out by MySpace. ‘It is that kind of responsible action that we are looking for, as it means people can trust a company.’ Ministers and politicians have been locked in battle with Google, the owners of YouTube, who claim that there is too much material going onto its site for it to be pre-screened.

The proposal for a ‘take-down’ league table is backed by Vaizey. He said: ‘The government is in a position to put out the information, and it is up to the internet service providers to react to it. If they are happy to be 55th in a league table of take-down times so be it.’

Overall, Follett’s remarks suggest she will be more interventionist than some other ministers, although she has stressed she favours the internet and largely thinks self-regulation is best option.

She also insisted there was not yet compellingly persuasive evidence of a link between watching violent video games and subsequent acts of violence.

Ministers have just set up a new child internet safety council following the review conducted for the Department of Children, Schools and Families by Dr Tanya Byron, the psychologist.

(Via Latest news, sport, business, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk.)

ISP boss pledges to undermine Great Aussie Firewall: “

Stupid plan is stupid

The Australian technology industry is starting to fight back against the government plan to force all ISPs to filter everyone’s internet access.…

“

(Via The Register - Public Sector.)

Good article.

Techdirt: Technology Moral Panics: But Think Of The Children!

Is the internet going down down under?: “

It’s the end of the net as we know it

The battle is now on for the soul of the Australian internet. The outcome could have enormous repercussions for the future of the internet in the UK.…

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(Via The Register - Public Sector.)

Filtering out the fury: how government tried to gag web censor critics - BizTech

Asher Moses, October 24, 2008

The Federal Government in Australia is attempting to silence critics of its controversial plan to censor the internet, which experts say will break the internet while doing little to stop people from accessing illegal material such as child pornography.

Internet providers and the government’s own tests have found that presently available filters are not capable of adequately distinguishing between legal and illegal content and can degrade internet speeds by up to 86 per cent.

(more…)

EU - Commission welcomes European Parliament’s strong support for a new Safer Internet Programme: “(RAPID)
The European Parliament cast an overwhelmingly positive vote on the report drafted by MEP Roberta Angelilli which supports the launch of a new EU Safer Internet programme. The 5-year programme (2009-13), proposed by the European Commission last February, will have a budget of € 55 million to combat illegal online content but also to tackle illegal and harmful conduct such as grooming and cyberbullying.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

Apparently “Children are just a few clicks away from innocently stumbling across upsetting or even dangerous pictures and films” and so why not regulate the Internet for all of us? I suspect we will see more of these stories soon as there are call for further “content regulation” in the UK.

BBC NEWS | UK | Web content ‘disturbing children’

Monday, 20 October 2008

Three out of four children have seen images on the internet that disturbed them, an NSPCC poll suggests.

The charity is renewing its call for computer manufacturers and retailers to install security to stop children finding violent or sexual content.

The NSPCC, which polled visitors to its children’s website There4me.com, said it was “alarmed” by the accessibility of potentially disturbing material.

Some 377 of 497 votes cast claimed to have been disturbed by internet images.

One child posted a comment on a There4me message board saying: “I’ve seen violent images I didn’t search for. I was freaked out.”

Another said his eight-year-old sister’s search for “pictures of animals” generated pornography adverts.

The NSPCC wants social networking and video hosting sites to remove offensive material within hours of finding it.

Policy adviser Zoe Hilton said the NSPCC was “alarmed” by how easy it was for children to access “disturbing internet material”.

She said: “Children are just a few clicks away from innocently stumbling across upsetting or even dangerous pictures and films such as adult sex scenes, violent dog fights, people self-harming and children being assaulted.”

‘More effort’

Ms Hilton said that every child should be using a computer with child protection software.

“High-security parental controls installed in their computers would help shield them.

“Currently computer manufacturers and retailers leave it to parents to find and install software that filters out material unsuitable for children. This can be a complicated process for customers.”

The charity wants retailers to ensure the software is installed before selling computers, and also manufacturers to start building such controls into their products.

She added: “Social networking sites must also put more effort and resources into patrolling their sites for harmful and offensive material and ensure their public complaints systems are clearly marked, easy-to-use and child-friendly.

“We would also recommend they give information on their sites about sources of help and advice, such as Childline, for children who have been affected by what they have seen.”

UK.gov says: Regulate the internet: “

Eradicate smut and unemployment

As unemployment looks set to soar in the months ahead, quangocrat and soon to be ex-head of Ofcom Lord David Currie appears to have discovered a cunning plan to find jobs for tens of thousands. The time for regulating the internet is nigh – and Ofcom could be the body to do it.…

“

(Via The Register - Public Sector.)

AU - No opt-out of filtered Internet: “(Computerworld)
Australians will be unable to opt-out of the government’s pending Internet content filtering scheme, and will instead be placed on a watered-down blacklist. Under the government’s $125.8 million Plan for Cyber-Safety, users can switch between two blacklists which block content inappropriate for children, and a separate list which blocks illegal material. Pundits say consumers have been lulled into believing the opt-out proviso would remove content filtering altogether. The government will iron-out policy and implementation of the Internet content filtering software following an upcoming trial of the technology, according to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)