Sun Advice Columnist Advised MPs On UK Porn-Block Plans 118
nk497 writes "The first official expert witness in an inquiry into network-level filtering of porn was a Sun advice columnist called Dear Deidre. A group of MPs has been pushing to censor the UK web to prevent children from seeing porn, but reading the full report reveals the weakness of the evidence. It also features Dear Deidre defending the topless model on Page 3 of her own newspaper, saying, 'the Editor of The Sun thinks it's okay' and 'nine million people read it.'"
nine million people (Score:4, Insightful)
It also features Dear Deidre defending the topless model on Page 3 of her own newspaper saying "the Editor of The Sun thinks it's okay" and "nine million people read it".
Well, gee, this internet thing is smalltime compared to those numbers. It's a pity cablemodems don't burn as well as books or newspapers, we could do with a good old fashioned bookburning, especially with those oil prices... Oh well...
Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
If the plan is to censor everything that somebody, somewhere finds offensive then we might as well just pull the plug and be done with it.
Besides, kids have cellphones these days and are quite capable of making their own porn. Is that better than seeing what's on the internet?
If we're worried about kids emulating what they see on the internet then what about the sites with videos of the Taliban cutting people's heads off? Porn=bad. Violence=good. Got it.
Re:It's the Sun wot won it (Score:0, Insightful)
So according to what you are saying if you charge someone for content you produce you are practicing censorship?
Re:Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
If the plan is to censor everything that somebody, somewhere finds offensive then we might as well just pull the plug and be done with it.
That's probably the entire point. Free exchange of information is the enemy of the state.
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BMO
Re:Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
Aren't parents responsible for raising their kids? Shouldn't the parent also be monitoring and preventing the kid from getting access to objectionable/adult oriented materials? Isn't it a failing on the parent's part if they do get access?
BTW, Mod parent insightful. Porn being considered as worse than violence has always made me think WTF. Yet there is violence aplenty on normal television while not so much porn.
Re:I can't even (Score:5, Insightful)
If you won't be able to find porn on the internet anymore, they assume you'll buy their newspaper to see some boobs.
Re:I can't even (Score:5, Insightful)
The fucking hypocrisy. The same newspaper that uses the third page as a beacon of nudity. Why do our MP's even want to hear what she has to say? Britain is screwed.
That's a good one! Why do your MP's even want to hear her? Probably because they are chosen by the same people that read the Sun. Those MP's probably even read the Sun themselves. We have the same going on here in the Netherlands with Geert Wilders and the PVV. It's populisme all over. They just shout out what will get them into the news, no matter if it contradicts whatever they shouted the day before. And the media? They love it! They make it frontpage news, even the "quality" newspapers.
Re:It's the Sun wot won it (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know about their censorship, but the Sun is probably the very last place I'd be looking for when it comes to advice...
Unless, of course, I want to act on hearsay, rumors and gossip.
Use net nanny software on the client machine (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't want my ISP doing DNS filtering.
I don't want my free and open Internet controlled that way.
I don't want a Great British Firewall
Because all of that shit is going to make my ISP want to charge me more money for the same services.
If I don't want my kids to see porn then I'll either a) sit behind them when they're using the computer, b) ban them from using it or c) install some shitty net nanny software and let them figure out how to crack it or how to bypass it.
It's the parent's responsibility.
Re:Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
This. A billion times this.
I am fed up with the idiots who try to push their child rearing duty on me. It is NOT my problem that you decided to breed. It is NOT my duty to limit my freedom so you can replace the TV with the internet as your el-cheapo babysitter.
You want your internet "safe and sane"? Go out and buy a web filter, install it and .... oh, sorry, I forgot. Not only do you not know the first thing about this "internet thing", you neither want to deal with your kids nor waste time protecting them.
Let the government do that. What did we elect them for, anyway, if we still gotta deal with pesky bits like, say, raising children?
Re:Don't take them seriously (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Censorship (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:nine million people (Score:2, Insightful)
The only creepy thing is the relationship between the average American and naked skin. That's just ridiculous. You guys are just brainwashed victims of a disgusting old remnant of the dark ages called christianity.
By the way. Adolescents in this age range are clearly too old for Pedobear.
Re:Is there more? (Score:5, Insightful)
How about this - Don't Buy the Sun. [dontbuythesun.co.uk] Those blaggards over at Murdoch's should have been sued out of existence years ago. They have not apologized for hacking phones and they have not apologized for calumnies about Hillsborough. Past behavior is the best predictor of future acts. So basically, this: Don't visit the Sun's website. Don't buy the Sun. Don't watch any Murdoch owned channel.