France blocks online child porn, terrorism, racism – Yahoo! News: ARIS – France is joining at least five other countries where Internet service providers block access to child pornography and to content linked to terrorism and racial hatred, the French interior minister said Tuesday.

The agreement will take effect in September. A blacklist will be compiled based on input from Internet users who flag sites containing offensive material, Interior Minister Michel Alliot-Marie said.

All service providers in France have agreed to block offending sites, he said.

‘We can no longer tolerate the sexual exploitation of children in the form of child pornography,’ Alliot-Marie said. ‘We have come to an agreement: access to child pornography sites will be blocked in France. Other democracies have done it. France could wait no longer.’

Offensive sites will be referred to judicial authorities, the minister said.

A similar deal was announced Tuesday in New York, where Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner Cable agreed with New York state officials to block access to child porn.

Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Canada and New Zealand are among other countries that have already implemented similar measures.