Monday, November 18, 2013

UK internet filters V's determined teenagers: my money's on the kids...

I'm not a big fan of censorship.

Considering I work in a library, that's probably not much of a surprise to any of you.  We're kinda big on the whole open access to information schtick, so when I read about how the UK are going through with the Internet block rigmarole in a wildly unproportional attempt to shelter kids from online pornography [link], my freedom to information loving little heart broke a little.

This is a slippery slope you're starting down, UK.

To be fair, it's not like they're putting a blanket block across the whole country, people can still "opt in" to be able to access the naughty rumpty pumpty sites if they want to.

And that's the thing, isn't it.  If they want to see those sites, they have to actually have the balls to put their hand up and say "Yes, I'd like you to let me see the filth you're so bound and determined to stop me from looking at".  Really, UK?  You're going to shame your population into becoming so sexually frustrated they'll have to resort to old school methods like dirty magazines and bootleg porn movies?

Where does one even find a bootleg porn DVD in this day and age, anyway?

But let's be realistic here, this is not going to solve the problem you're so desperately trying to find a solution to.  All it's going to do is get every husband in the country put in the doghouse by their wives, and it's not going to stop a single kid from accessing porn if they really want it bad enough.

Because no matter how good you might think your filters and processes are, they simply aren't a match for a 14 year old with high school level computer skills and a burning determination to see Busty Ladies VII.

Just saying.

12 comments:

  1. I agree with you.
    People in India want their children to be good and pure without realizing that kids become adults and teenagers want to grow up faster than we think. Therefore if any of my Indian friends or any of my relatives are reading this comment - - - - oops.

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  2. Isn't intense sexual repression what England was founded on?

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  3. My teens are all far better at the computer than I, and I wouldn't be surprised if they found their way around the filters I had them...though they were smart enough not to tell me. ;)

    Thank you for linking to Super Sunday Sync.

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  4. As a porn lover myself, I'm siding with the horny teenagers on this one.

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  5. Normally, I am against any government interference in rights...especially some sort of censorship but if I lived there and had teens in the house, I would opt to have the filter in place. The kids might find another way to get to porn but they would have to work harder to find it. Here, I have the option to put parental controls on any or all TV channels and my Internet provider can put adult only blocks on my computer. Because I don't have kids in the house, I haven't bothered ....but again, I wouldn't want to make it too easy for kids to go surfing for porn.

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  6. I'm not interested in porn, but if other people want to look at it, that's their choice. I think it gives men unrealistic expectations about women.

    Love,
    Janie

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  7. Very, very true. People underestimate how far a horny teenager will go x

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  8. Wow. I'm all for protecting kids, but this is so totally a parents issue and should not be mandated by the government. What bugs me too is that it's in place and you have to opt out of it. All that says to me is the government is trying to protect kids from lazy parenting. We don't think you can do it, so we'll do it for you.

    "Almost a quarter of 11 and 12-year-olds had been distressed by an experience online in the past year, the NSPCC found. It said that, of these, 18 per cent felt upset or scared for weeks afterwards. Its poll of more than 1,000 youngsters also found that a fifth who had been upset by an online incident such as trolling or being sent inappropriate sexual messages, experienced this every day or almost every day."

    I find this quote interesting--the statistics. It's one reason to me why you should be wary of things like this. What does distressed mean? To me, distressed doesn't sound supper serious. And really, how many 11-12 yr olds feel distressed by things they hear at school. Or see on TV. Or hear from their parents. To me, this is not a statistic that backs up any of their reasoning.

    It'll be interesting to see what happens with it all.

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  9. That's just silly... Good thing I kept my dad's old porn mag stash!

    Hugs!

    Valerie

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  10. This seems to be the free speech equivalent of having to ask a kid to help open a child-proof medicine bottle.

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  11. Pedophiles are going to find a way to access kiddie porn. Parents should be watching their internet usage closely. Some couples use porn as a bedroom tool. I don't think anything is wrong with that. The government needs to worry about it's politicians and scams and murder etc. Great post.

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