UK to block adult websites
Forget Brexit, Britain’s government is fighting a battle with pornography, writes David Court.
As if tensions in the United Kingdom weren’t high enough right now – the government is set to roll out a controversial new ‘‘porn block’’ that will take effect on July 15.
The new ban will prevent all UK internet users from accessing adult content until they verify their age with a valid form of ID.
That’s right. The UK is now asking its citizens for ID before allowing them access certain websites.
And amazingly – according to a recent YouGov.co.uk poll – threequarters of Britons are totally unaware of what’s about to happen.
Why is the UK blocking porn?
The block, along with Brexit, is another direct result of former prime minister David Cameron’s questionable time in office.
Eager to be seen as a family man, Cameron made pornography a bit of a personal crusade.
UK Porn Block 1.0
First, he waged war on public wi-fi as he was reportedly horrified at the amount of porn being consumed in full view of the public (on trains and in coffee shops etc.) And he was successful. Sort of. All of the big public wi-fi providers signed up to his plan, and in April 2013, the UK’s first porn block was introduced.
How did it go? Not great. As usual with wide-reaching and poorly-defined government initiatives, the execution was clumsy.
A lot of porn sites were blocked, granted. But public wi-fi was far from porn free – the bigger commercial porn sites were blocked, obviously, but newlycreated and lesser-known sites slipped under the radar.
Worse still, perfectly innocent sites were also caught in the government’s net. Sexual health and religious sites were early collateral.
Not perturbed, Cameron, egged on by a handful of child protection charity lobbyists, continued with his porn war.
UK Porn Block 2.0
His new plan was to force all broadband customers to manually ‘‘opt-out’’ of porn and adult content filters. I’m not making this up.
And yep, you guessed it, the number of Brits who opted in for a government-approved version of the internet was predictably low.
Just 6 per cent of BT customers, the UK’s biggest ISP, chose to keep the family-friendly filters switch on.
There was another problem. The blocks were easy to get around.
Any child who knew how to use Google or search on YouTube – which is all of them – was able to find a way around the blocks in a matter of minutes.
Using a VPN, for example, enabled underage users a workaround. The VPN would encrypt their internet connection and reroute it to a server in another country, where a government hadn’t forced family filters on its citizens – giving VPN users access to uncensored websites again.
It rendered Cameron’s big child safety push a bit useless.
And somehow, despite the British children’s impressive display of intelligence and willingness to learn, the UK government continued to press on with the blocks.
Ignoring the option of educating its curious and capable youth about the bad bits of the internet, it preferred to go for one last Hail Mary attempt at blocking adult content for good.
UK Porn Block 3.0
Which brings us to the present day, and the UK’s pending July 15 porn block.
In a recent press release, Minister for Digital Margot James sets out the argument: ‘‘Adult content is currently far too easy for children to access online. The introduction of mandatory ageverification is a world-first, and we’ve taken the time to balance privacy concerns with the need to protect children from inappropriate content.
‘‘We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to be online, and these new laws will help us achieve this.’’
That’s definitely up for debate. The government’s blocks will probably make it a bit more difficult for minors to access potentially distressing content. But as they’ve demonstrated before, they’re more than capable of finding ways around countrywide bans.
And what about the adults in Britain? Well, here’s where things become (even more) laughable.
If our British friends decide they want to continue, er, enjoying adult content they have to jump through a few hoops first. And the government-approved way to do this is to upload a copy of their passport, driver’s licence, or credit card.
That’s right. In an age of digital spying and chronic levels of data leaks, the UK government is asking its voters to upload official ID before they watch something incredibly private.
An alternative has been offered. But it’s equally ridiculous. Those who don’t wish to digitally verify their age can buy ‘‘porn passes’’ in physical shops for £4.99 ($10).
I think it’s more likely they’ll use a VPN. Just like the kids.
Interestingly, YouGov.co.uk stats suggest that 67 per cent of UK adults back the porn block. But only 34 per cent think it will work.