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IWF Backs Down On Wiki Censorship

Posted by kdawson on from the that-streisand-thing-again dept.

jonbryce writes "The Internet Watch Foundation, guardians of the Great Firewall of Britain, have stopped censoring Wikipedia for hosting what they considered to be a child porn image. They had previously threatened to block Amazon for hosting the same image." Here is the IWF's statement, which credits the Streisand Effect for opening their eyes: "...in light of the length of time the image has existed and its wide availability, the decision has been taken to remove this webpage from our list. Any further reported instances of this image which are hosted abroad, will not be added to the list. ... IWF's overriding objective is to minimize the availability of indecent images of children on the internet, however, on this occasion our efforts have had the opposite effect."

9 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. not a "child porn" image by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's get it right; the IWF didn't say the page was porn; they said it was "potential illegal child sexual abuse." Most people seem to have assumed this was because the album cover artwork on the Wikipedia page included an image of a naked girl, but the reality is that IWF only wanted to protect children from the horrors of having to listen to anything released by the Scorpions.

    1. Re:not a "child porn" image by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hmmph. I guess we're all guilty of possessing and consuming what people call "child pornography".

      Maybe you pervs are all guilty, trying to pass off your fetish as "mainstream". I haven't heard of any of those things. Family Guy? Nirvana? WTF are those?!

      Except Winger. I've heard of them, but not the song "Seventeen". Must be one of their less popular ones, after they sold out.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  2. I tried to look up the pictures on the web... by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...but they were all underdeveloped.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  3. Thanks to IWF, now I've seen the image myself! by wernst · · Score: 2, Funny

    Before the efforts of Internet Watch Foundation, I had never seen the image they were all worked up about, which is at:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Virgin_Killer.jpg.

    And now, thanks to their tireless efforts to protect me from myself, I have seen it.

    Good work, IWF!

  4. They'll be back by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 2, Funny

    In a later statement the IWF said 'Don't you worry, this is a minor setback. Rest assured, wherever there are naked children, we'll be watching, ready to pounce'

    --
    I have nothing compelling to say
  5. Great Firewall of Britain? by wcrowe · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The Internet Watch Foundation, guardians of the Great Firewall of Britain...

    Wouldn't that be "Hadrian's Firewall" in this case?

    --
    Proverbs 21:19
    1. Re:Great Firewall of Britain? by anaesthetica · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, that would be an Italian firewall used to censor Scottish content.

      Britain cutting itself off from the rest of the world is better represented by the Channel Fogwall.

      --
      The Rise and Fall of Online Community
  6. best irony ever by Shadukar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Today from work (instead of working) I decided to check out the IWF website.

    Turns out Getbusi content filtering proxy is blocking their site as "porn"

    1. Re:best irony ever by jrumney · · Score: 2, Funny

      Thats probably that well known animal porn site "International Wildlife Fund". You want the other IWF.