Iceland may become the first-ever Western nation to ban internet pornography. Interior ministry advisor Halla Gunnarsdóttir told the media, “There is a strong consensus building in Iceland. We have so many experts, from educationalists to the police and those who work with children behind this, that this has become much broader than party politics,” the Daily Mail reports.
Although the proposals may seem surprising from a nation that champion free speech rights, the North Atlantic country has long had laws in place that prohibit printed pornography. However, the legislation has never been extended to include pornographic content on the web.
The effort has quickly drawn fire from internet-freedom advocates, but many officials Reykjavik continue to defend the move by saying it will protect the country’s children.
Gunnarsdóttir said, “This move is not anti-sex. It is anti-violence because young children are seeing porn and acting it out. That is where we draw the line. This material is blurring the boundaries for young people about what is right and wrong.”
Meanwhile, experts say that blocking internet pornography from reaching Iceland completely would be virtually impossible due to the sheer volume of content available around the world.
However, Gunnarsdóttir said that the government is confident it can handle the task: “At the moment, we are looking at the best technical ways to achieve this. But surely if we can send a man to the moon, we must be able to tackle porn on the Internet.”
Interesting fact – contrary to what kind Gunnarsdottir says, there isn’t even a shadow of scientific consensus as to effects of “hardcore” pornography.
Modern empirical research suggests that it has no negative effect, or a negligible one at worst. (see, for instance, this finely crafted brochure: http://www.sexscience.org/dashboard/articleImages/SSSS-Pornography.pdf
Besides, managing what your kids see on the internet is a parenting concern, not a regulation concern (there is a wide array of non-obscene, non-sexual, yet profoundly disturbing content that can deeply affect an impressionable child. There is also a certain degree of variance among children in regards to what would be “sufficiently disturbing”, but that’s a different story
“But surely if we can send a man to the moon, we must be able to tackle porn on the Internet.”
Iceland has send a man to the moon???
:D
THEY BETTER NOT TAKE AWAY THE KINKY STUFF! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DONT TAKE IT AWAY! ILL PAY!
-a concerned nigga
Those bastards!!! They will never EVER take my porn!! EVER!!!