Internet porn might be shut down in Iceland according to reports. The Associated Press reported that the government of Iceland is planning to draft a ban on porn, for both online and print, in order to protect children from violent sexual imagery.
The proposal came from Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson. Political adviser to the interior minister, Halla Gunnarsdottir said to the AP, "When a 12-year-old types 'porn' into Google, he or she is not going to find photos of naked women out on a country field, but very hardcore and brutal violence."
"There are laws in our society. Why should they not apply to the Internet?" he added.
Gunnarsdottir said that the proposals would introduce new restrictions. Pornography is already banned in Iceland and has been for decades but the law is not enforced. They sell Penthouse and Playboy magazines in book stores and there are sex shops that sell hardcore porn as well as pornographic channels on tv.
"Gunnarsdottir said the committee is still exploring the details of how a porn ban could be enforced. One possibility would be to make it illegal to pay for porn with Icelandic credit cards. Another, more controversial, route would be a national Internet filter or a list of website addresses to be blocked," reported the AP.
Some are saying that this would be nearly impossible to uphold and some free speech groups are against the idea of restricting pornography.
"This kind of thing does not work. It is technically impossible to do in a way that has the intended effect," said Smari McCarthy who is from free-speech group International Modern Media Institute to the AP. "And it has negative side effects - everything from slowing down the Internet to blocking content that is not meant to be blocked to just generally opening up a whole can of worms regarding human rights issues, access to information and freedom of expression."
Some governments censor the Internet including Iran, North Korea and China restricting people who live in the country access to many sites on the
websites, measures that have met with only limited opposition.
"I think this is a good idea, but I think it might be problematic to implement this," said shop assistant Ragnheidur Arnarsdottir to the AP. "It is difficult to fight technology."
Gunnarsdóttir said to The Guardian about their rationale for the ban, "We are a progressive, liberal society when it comes to nudity, to sexual relations, so our approach is not anti-sex but anti-violence. This is about children and gender equality, not about limiting free speech..."
Gawker reported that research shows that on average 11 years old is the age when Icelanders see their first online porn.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
