PRESS RELEASE: MP Advocates Censoring Internet

Toronto, ON - December 12

Conservative MP Joy Smith is drafting a private members bill to censor the internet in Canada. In her proposal, everyone’s internet access would have adult content filtered out by default and each individual would have to contact their service provider in order to opt out. Forcing each adult to put on record that they are interested in pornography further erodes our already tenuous basic privacy. Another major issue with this proposal is that software used for censorship is notoriously ineffective creating the potential for widespread collateral damage. In the UK version of this legislation, it was eventually revealed that not only pornography would be blocked by default but also websites that have violent content, web forums, content featuring smoking & alcohol, information on eating disorders and other material unrelated to pornography.

There are two main ways to go about web-blocking. Either you use specialized algorithms to automatically detect undesired material and block it or you have someone manually add websites to a blacklist. The first method creates the aforementioned collateral damage, the second is akin to trying to bail water out of a cruise ship with a thimble. Both are government interference in parenting and an extension of the nanny state.

“An epidemic of youngsters watching porn? Where are their parents while all this is going on? Better question: by what right does the government think it can replace the parents? The answer is it has no such right. If this MP wishes to propose a law about increasing education for parents regarding monitoring their children’s online habits I would fully support it. Afterall, such a law would also help with the issues of cyber-bullying and online luring. The current proposal, however, treats parents like oblivious children”, says James Wilson, Leader of the Pirate Party of Canada. The Pirate Party opposes internet censorship, however well meaning, and supports parents’ right to raise their children. The Pirate Party calls on Parliament to reject this bill as ill-informed and a threat to Canadian internet freedom. We also call on MP Joy Smith to release the letter she reportedly received from a 10-year old addicted to porn (minus identifying information) to prove said letter actually exists. [1]

The Pirate Party of Canada is a federal political party focused on thoughtful information policy reform, genuine democracy, civil liberties, and the freedom of the Internet. You can find out more online at www.pirateparty.ca .

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[1] http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/12/09/conservative-mp-radical-feminist-and-evangelical-christian-come-together-to-block-online-porn-in-canada/


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  1. Paul commented at

    The last sentence of the first paragraph is part of the problem. Governments never know when to stop when it comes to such things as censorship; it becomes easier and easier to supress information and increase the reach of government.

    Of course it is all done in the best of intention, to quote former Premier Dalton McGuinty “think of the children!”. All governments think of children when it comes to heavy handed supression of rights, but sadly, they never think of children when slashing welfare programs and other activities that might help children.

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