EU rules may scrap Cameron’s porn-blocking plans

David Cameron’s plans to block pornography sites may be scuppered by new EU laws.

The Prime Minister announced porn filters in 2013, forcing people to “opt in” if they want to watch sexually explicit content.

He said that the easy accessibility of “poisonous” porn websites was “corroding childhood”. Most UK ISPS now block porn by default, as well as sites on self-harm, suicide and anorexia.

But the EU’S new Single Telecom Market law says that internet traffic throughout the EU should be treated equally, a principle known as net neutrality. This would make it illegal for governments to block access to websites.

In response the Government said it was “exploring options”, which could mean pushing porn-blocking legislation through the House of Commons that all UK ISPS would have to abide by.

The Government’s advisor on internet security John Carr told the Sunday Times: “The risk is that a major plank of the UK’S approach to online child protection will be destroyed at a stroke”.

“It all seems a bit sneaky or tacky for this to have come about as the result of a measure which, ostensibly, has nothing whatsoever to do with online child safety,” he added

The Prime Minister will be keen not to let the EU derail proposals he has defended passionately. Two years ago, Cameron said that “in the darkest corners of the internet, there are things going on that are a direct danger to our children”.

He said he was acting because he felt “profoundly as a politician, and as a father, that the time for action has come”.

The Single Telecom Market bill, which is due to be voted on by the European Parliament in the autumn, will also prevent mobilephone networks from charging customers roaming fees throughout the EU (see News, Issue 454).