David Cameron orders move towards Chinese-style Internet

Paul Joseph Watson

Infowars.com

July 22, 2013

The British government has set the precedent for establishing the state’s power to censor web content of its choosing by automatically blocking online porn via mandatory web filters set to be in place by the end of next year.

“Every household in the UK is to have pornography blocked by their internet provider unless they choose to receive it, David Cameron is to announce,” reports BBC News. During an interview with the BBC, Cameron focused almost exclusively on blocking obscene images of children, ignoring the fact that the move would also block legal forms of pornography.

Under new legislation, every Internet user will be contacted by their service provider and asked whether they want the government filters switched on or off. Customers signing up to new broadband packages will automatically have the filters enacted by default. The filters will also be installed on all new cell phones.

“Horrific” Internet search terms will also be completely blacklisted under the legislation. Although for the moment, Internet users will be able to opt out of the filter, this clearly represents a step in the direction of centralizing control of Internet content in the hands of the state since parents are already able to install their own web filters to block any website they wish.

While all these measures are being justified in the name of protecting children and targeting pedophiles, they mimic Internet policing systems of draconian countries like China and pave the way for free speech to be similarly censored.

Other countries that have attempted to introduce similar filters, such as Australia, also justified their introduction by primarily targeting child pornography, but tried to use them to blacklist activist and political websites, leading to accusations of “totalitarianism”.

Given that major think tanks with direct ties to the UK government like Demos have claimed that “conspiracy theories,” which is a pejorative term for anything that challenges the official narrative, cause violence, how long before anti-establishment websites are also included on a government blacklist?

The campaign to block online porn was led by the Daily Mail, whose website is ironically littered with images which could be considered soft porn on a daily basis. Perhaps the newspaper wants to eliminate its competition.

Daily Mail readers reacted by slamming the newspaper itself for featuring suggestive images of underage children on a routine basis.

“Will this extend to your endless pictures of teenage stars in their bikini’s, and overuse of the headline “all grown up”?” commented one reader.

“Better block your own Showbiz Section/Sidebar of Shame first, you hypocrites,” added another.

The vast majority of comments voted up by other users slammed the block as a move towards a Chinese-style censored Internet.

“I’d like to tell this unelected Prime Minister to keep his nose the hell out of my personal business. As for the Mail congratulations on turning your beloved Great Britain into a Chinese clone,” remarked one user.

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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.

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