Iceland wants to ban porn on the web.
Iceland was hailed as something of a model country by liberals for their tough approach on their banks and politicians following the financial crisis. Now, though, the country is considering using Chinese-style web filters to censor porn:
The unprecedented censorship is justified by fears about damaging effects of the internet on children and women.Ogmundur Jonasson, Iceland's interior minister, is drafting legislation to stop the access of online pornographic images and videos by young people through computers, games consoles and smartphones.
"We have to be able to discuss a ban on violent pornography, which we all agree has a very harmful effects on young people and can have a clear link to incidences of violent crime," he said.
Methods under consideration include blocking access to pornographic website addresses and making it illegal to use Icelandic credit cards to access pay-per-view pornography.
It is already illegal to print and distribute pornography in Iceland, so this is more of an extension of existing law rather than a brand new assault against salacious material. Still, the country would be the first Western nation to ban web porn.
Iceland is currently exploring the technical ins-and-outs (if you will) of implementing the ban, but a government adviser sounded hopeful, saying, "if we can send a man to the moon, we must be able to tackle porn on the internet."
(AP Photo)
