The freedom of spiritual expression and exchange of spiritual ideas on the web is under attack. The UK has begun implementation of an internet filtering system which automatically filter out websites with 'esoteric material'. Working directly with ISP's and affecting 95% of British internet users, the UK 'Porn Filter' doesn't just block porn but a total of 9 different categories including 'Esoteric Material'. (Read about all 9 categories here.. https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2013/sleepwalking-into-censorship ) The definition of 'esoteric material' is so broad that it can span from meditation to spiritual healing, Chakras, yoga and everything in between. And this has now been lumped in with the horrid company of pornography, violence and suicide related sites.

This sinister development is being slipped past public notice as these automatic filters are being headlined as a powerful tool to combat Pornography on the web. UK Prime Minister David Cameron is touting these new policies will 'protect children and their innocence'. But besides the efforts to block pornography the collateral damage removes massive amounts of websites from the net. Currently the filters can be turned off by the user, but they are set to 'ON' automatically upon setup. This uses the popular 'nudge theory' helping to control actions of people and relies on user's tech savvy-ness in order to disable them.

See the depth of this issue quickly and at a glance with this great infographic .. http://www.reachinglight.com/new-infographic-uk-internet-filter-to-block-esoteric-content



While major religions will not be affected (at least for now), these policies discriminate, marginalize and stigmatize small spiritual groups and alternative spiritual viewpoints. Already other countries are talking about adopting the same 'Pornwall' filters and we need to take action now to stop this assault on our collective spirituality. Wikipedia founder and high profile adviser to Prime Minister Cameron, Jimmy Wales calls the online porn filter 'an absolutely ridiculous idea'.

Sign this petition now and send a strong message to Prime Minister Cameron that we see through this obvious Trojan Horse and we will not accept this infringement upon our human right to free spiritual opinion and expression.

