Germans, sign the ePetition against web censorship
Posted on | May 26, 2009 | 5 Comments
Germany’s family minister Ursula von der Leyen has fought fiercly to implement the same kind of “child porn” blocks on the Internet that have been in use in Sweden since 2005. But unlike in Sweden, the censorship plans have met a huge resistance in Germany. The critics warn that censorship is the wrong way to go, especially since no one will be allowed to check the list of censored sites, which will be maintained by the Federal Criminal Police Office, BKA.
The critics also emphasize how easy it is to circumvent the blocks, meaning those who want “child porn” will find it easier than ever (for example by following BKA’s list, which - like the lists in Scandinavia - will leak), whereas the blocks will let the ordinary netizen conveniently look away. They suggest that “child porn” sites should be taken off the net instead of just marked with a “stop” sign - löschen statt verstecken (remove instead of hiding).
Needless to say, “child porn” is just the noble cause that the politicians use to implement a smooth system to censor improper sites. Oscar Swartz has shown (in Swedish, but the pictures speak for themselves) how sites with bonsai trees ended up on the Swedish censor list. Also, The Pirate Bay ended up on the list once, but was removed after protests, as well as other non-cp sites.
Destroyer’s concern is not of the löschen statt verstecken kind. That slogan may make people believe that there is actually a lot of child porn around on the internet, which is not the case. (Or is it? Show us the säuglings, Ursula!) Instead, we are concerned that innocent content like that of our magazine might end up on the lists, since no one can check them, and since gay content has a tradition of being censored by the powers at be. A Finnish guy showed that less than one percent of the links on the Finnish censor list contained real cp. Whatever that meant, because how do you define child porn? That’s the given question to him, but even more so to the BKA and the politicians.
Anyway, if you live in Germany, I think you should take action against these measures by signing the ePetition at Deutscher Bundestag. It’s a bit complicated, because you have to register, but do take the time.
Read more at Netzpolitik.
