Internet Watch Foundation
The Internet Watch Foundation is a United Kingdom-based organisation which does exactly what it says on the tin - watches the Internets. More precisely, it watches out for various types of illegal content - most prominently CP, but it also won't tolerate racist material or terrorist websites. This is all very much understandable in itself, but some argue that they are using their powers to scare people out of being able to exercise their right to freedom of speech online.
The IWF were also famous for blocking access to /b/ in summer 2006. A Chanarchive thread records the surrounding drama, and this was what led /b/ to conclude the real motivations of the IWF staff, one of whom received emails from Richard C. Mongler, inquiring as to what was going on.
It's clear that a site like the IWF would need to be based in Britain, given the hysteria surrounding online content stirred up by tabloids in the UK that is larger even than that in other countries.
The IWF is also extremely concerned when it encounters racism. For example, this is illegal content if hosted in the police state known as the UK:
—The IWF's anti-racism guidelines. | ||
McCarthyism
Some argue that the IWF is an organisation set up by New Labour to scare the populace into not exercising their rights to freedom of speech online. Pedophilia, racism and terrorism are bad things. Few people dispute that. But who's gonna say that they're not going to block access to websites containing material which might allow people to think for themselves outside the mass media? After all, these epithets are ones that people are scared of - like being called a witch in 17th century New England, or being called a communist in 1950s Jewnited States of Americunts. Historically, these labels have been attached to people who they don't apply to at all, and the fear is that it may be happening again. The United Kingdom seems to be going down the same path as United States of Australia, and the internet'll just be like cable Television by the time they're finished with it.
Indeed, a British man recently was convicted for criminally obscene content for writing a story about the rape and murder of the band Girls Aloud, thanks to the IWF's efforts. Sure, the story was in poor taste. But it was a work of fiction. Using the same law that led to the banning of the book Lady Chatterley's Lover back 50 years ago, he is currently being prosecuted. This would never have happened ten years ago. In the Web 2.0 age, it's much easier to publish a document - you can write something crazy in a bad mood or weird state of mind without doing so much as to have to say a single word or leave your chair. Isn't this just like George Orwell's Big Brother where the 'telescreen' can monitor your thoughts better than anything else can? Didn't this man deserve mental help instead of prosecution? Again, no satisfactory answers have been given.
Thankfully, there are organisations like Liberty in Britain who support a sensible and rational approach, rather than the 'burn it, kill it, rip it up' which is like the Two Minutes Hate, again in Orwell's 1984. The IWF really should tackle the root of the problem, rather than use fear tactics against people who are not criminals. For example, even searching for BBW porn may generate one of their messages in Google [1]. Makes no sense at all.
The English-Wikipedian Holocaust
With good intentions, Wikipedians started an "Academic" Child Porn portal to educate people on the historical controversy. With good intentions, the Internet Watch Foundation decided to blacklist English Wikipedia over the Virgin Killer article to prevent the English from accidentally viewing "potentially illegal" content. With good intentions, the British ISP placed 95% of England in a cleanfeed (TM) Concentration camp with only 8 transparent proxies. With good intentions, WikiMedia implemented Final Solution after detecting vandalism to prevent those 8 proxies from further edits. As a result, much lulz is generated from the over generosity of good intentions.
External links
- CLICK HERE REPORT ILLEGAL CONTENT
- Email the chief exec at his personal address [email protected]. Don't send anything offensive though!
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