[governance] The dawning of Internet censorship in Germany

[Rui Correia]

Hi

I am in two minds as to how to react to this - it is one of those clear cut
cases where freedom of expression and other rights have to be balanced and
treated with responsibility. The UN Human Rights Commission "three-part
test" refers.

However, calling it censorship is a bit alarmist. Censorship is normally
carried out to prevent the bulk of the people from accessing information of
their/ general interest and the circulation of which is a threat to the hold
on power of the government of the day. Blocking child pornography cannot be
called preventing access to information of the general interest of the bulk
of the population, pornography can be be said to be of general public
interest and the CDU does not need to suppress this kind of information to
guarantee its political power.

And I fully agree about NOT bringing Nazis and Hitler into this discussion.
What the CDU is doing in not Germany-specific - it could have been France or
any other so-called established democracy.

Blocking access to certain kinds of products is nothing new, whether this be
alcohol, drugs or adult content.

You can't freely buy child pornography (or other forms of extreme sexual
material) where you buy the rest of your books/ magazines/ newspapers, and
yet nobody complains about this as a violation of freedom of expression.

It is an accepted norm that broadcasters have a "watershed" (normally 22:00)
- which separates family viewing from so-callled adult viewing and films in
cinemas/ theatres carry ages restrictions. In my many years in the field,
I've never seen this being referred to as a violation of freedom of
expression.

Likewise, nobody would object if schools searched students' bags before
entering schools looking for pornographic material - it is seen as a measure
to protect children and society.

So, whereas controlling child pornography on the internet might raise
concerns about creating precedents for other types of internet content or
being overzealously implemented, it is a reality that the anonymity of the
internet is a contributing factor and therefore solutions must be found. Our
role as civil society is not to knee-jerk at government decisions, but to
use our vast and diverse experience to assist/ guide/ steer in finding
solutions.

So the challenge now is not to oppose the implementation of mechanisms to
fight child pornography because these infringe on freedom of expression, but
to use our common, combined and vast experience to offer alternative
solutions.

Perhaps we must look at mechanisms that allow for parent-controlled filters,
just as is the case with satellite/ cable pay television. The user/ parent
would have the freedom of using whichever software he/she chose, just like
we choose the virus/ spam/ adware/ filters that we choose.Internet cafes and
libraries or other places with public use internet would do the same ...
perhaps we could have an adults section in internet cafes, just as we have
the smokers section in restaurants in some countries! ;-).

As for children "producing" their own porn, that is an entirely different
issue altogether and to call it porn begs the question of whether understand
what porn is and what adolescent behaviour is - children are doing it for
the thrill, just like in generations before, others smoked, drank, consumed
drugs, etc, using something within their reach for shock/ status value among
their peers. Cellphones and webcams are now part of the arsenal of weapons
within their reach to impress their peers or establish their credibility
within the group. So, Joe, they are not perverted - one day they will be
successful politicians/ businessmen etc, and perhaps might have to face
having to admit that they ONCE did take part in exchanging nude/ sexual
material with their peers (just as today politicians/ etc admit to having
ONCE tried cannabis etc).

Best regards,

Rui


2009/6/17 Nyangkwe Agien Aaron <nyangkweagien at gmail.com>

>
> I just read this and found it interesting for the caucus group.
>
> Quite a great move by the German authorities aimed at securing responsible
> youth hood.
>
> Aaron
>
>
> ============================================================
>
>
> "Germany is on the verge of censoring its Internet: The government - a
> grand
> coalition between the German social democrats and conservative party -
> seems
> united in its decision: On 18 June 2009, the German Parliament is to vote
> on
> the erection of an internet censorship architecture.
>
> The Minister for Family Affairs Ursula von der Leyen kicked off and led the
> discussions within the German Federal Government to block Internet sites in
> order to fight child pornography. The general idea is to build a censorship
> architecture enabling the government to block content containing child
> pornography. The Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) is to
> administer the lists of sites to be blocked and the internet providers
> obliged to erect the secret censorship architecture for the government".
>
>
>
>
> --
> Aaron Agien Nyangkwe
> Journalist-OutCome Mapper
> Special Assistant The President
> ASAFE
> P.O.Box 5213
> Douala-Cameroon
>
> Tel. 237 3337 55 31, 3337 50 22
> Fax. 237 3342 29 70
>
> ____________________________________________________________
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>


-- 
________________________________________________


Rui Correia
Advocacy, Human Rights, Media and Language Consultant
2 Cutten St
Horison
Roodepoort-Johannesburg,
South Africa
Tel/ Fax (+27-11) 766-4336
Mobile (+27) (0) 84-498-6838
_______________
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