UK Porn Filter Could Also Censor Other Content

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By Luisa Rollenhagen2013-08-01 15:55:52 UTC

Last week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that broadband subscribers will be required to declare if they want to maintain access to online pornography. Now, according to several Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the filters may censor even more.

According to Open Rights Group, a digital rights organization that spoke with several ISPs scheduled to implement the UK's porn filter, filters can be enabled across a wide range of content, such as file-sharing websites, dating sites and more.

See also: 7 Ways Companies Are Using the Government's Open Data

A number of categories will be blocked by default, which will require subscribes to unblock those sites, According to TorrentFreak .

Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group speculates that the default settings of ISPs will block things like "violent material," "esoteric material," "alcohol" and "suicide-related websites."

The fear is that people will simply stick with the defaults without properly investigating precisely what content their ISPs are blocking. "David Cameron wants people to sleepwalk into censorship," Killock writes.

The discontent over the UK's newest Internet restrictions was further heightened when news broke that the filter used by ISPs is controlled by the Chinese company Huawei, which partnered up with UK telecom provider TalkTalk.

Cameron praised the company, but Huawei has been accused of aiding the Chinese government in spying on its citizens.

According to TorrentFreak, users "will still be able to use a VPN" as of now. Open Rights Group has voiced concerns that "web blocking circumvention tools" may be blocked in the future, as well.

What do you think of the UK's Internet filter? Do you think the filter may lead to greater restrictions? Let us know in the comments.

Image: Chris Hondros/Newsmakers

Topics: censorship, david cameron, filter, filtered browsing, government censorship, porn, UK, United Kingdom, US & World, World