Slashdot Mirror


UK Government Crowd-Sourcing Censorship

angry tapir writes "The UK public can report 'terrorism-related' Web sites to authorities for removal from the Internet under a new program launched by the British government. The program is a way in which the government is seeking to enforce the Terrorism Acts of 2000 and 2006. These laws make it illegal to have or to share information intended to be useful to terrorists, and ban glorifying terrorism or urging people to commit terrorist acts."

8 of 262 comments (clear)

  1. Me! Me! by Thanshin · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hereby report "slashdot.org".

  2. "Removal from the internet"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good luck with that.

    No, seriously, all the best to those making a grand attempt to remove something from the internet without just causing it to be spread around even more. I imagine you'll have many fun years of failure.

    1. Re:"Removal from the internet"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I tipped them off about 4chan.org and their constant hate speech. Unfortunately, the process seems anonymous, so I'm now the number one suspect.

  3. Catch 22 by netpixie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Citizen: "Ossifer, I've looked at this website and it is terism"
    Plod: "So you admit to looking at terism? Go directly to Belmarsh. Do not pass go"

  4. Report your friends, family and neighbours... by mayhem79 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What worries me is the term: 'intended to be useful to terrorists'; this is so broad a definition, in theory anything could be deemed as useful to terrorist. For example, how to fly a plane, how to drive a car, self defense techniques. It also concerns me what implications to freedoms this may have on non-violent polictical protest sites i.e. any site that may critise a governments policy. I am a UK citizen and am becoming increasingly worried as my freedoms are being slowly litigated for my 'own good' to combat terrorism. Reminds me of a joke on Red Dwarf: 'Report your friends, family and neighbours... wonderful prizes to be won.'

  5. Sorted by robably · · Score: 5, Interesting

    These laws make it illegal to have or to share information intended to be useful to terrorists

    Check

    ban glorifying terrorism

    Check

    or urging people to commit terrorist acts.

    and check.

  6. Re:One day they'll have to confront it head on by FourthAge · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's a very difficult problem, and the response of the three major parties is "Denial". All three say "Immigration and Islamisation are not a problem. We will not even consider them as issues. P.S. You are a racist." I see you have already been called a Nazi for posting this.

    Which is ironic, because your post is a warning about the Nazis in their BNP form. The National Socialists recognise and acknowledge the issues that the main parties do not. They are capitalising on the refusal of the main parties to talk about the issues.

    I think it is obvious now that the multiculturalism policy of the UK government has been a complete disaster. It's created ghettos. Entire cities like Birmingham and Bradford are divided by ethnic groupings. It's encouraged fear and hatred between the groups, fueling terrorism. It's exactly what should never have happened.

    Immigrants should have been welcomed into Britain provided that they were willing to merge into the existing culture and society, as many immigrants are. But instead, they were encouraged to be separate from the existing societies. Ghettos were created, and any concern about the ghettoisation process was dismissed by the UK Establishment as "racism", even though the concerns were well-founded. And it's not just the UK. The same problems exist in France for the same reason.

    It is time to abandon cultural relativism, the idea that each culture - each approach to life - is just as valid as any other. It is simply nonsense. Some cultures are inherently better than others. Absolute comparisons are possible and useful.

    The UK Establishment tells us that such comparisons are "racist" - but why? What is racist about comparing one society and another? Racism is discrimination based on ethnic grouping, not discrimination based on social structure or cultural values.

    It is our duty to discriminate against the values and culture of dark age theocracies. We must not allow the civilisation we have built to be undermined by Sharia and the Middle Eastern dictatorships. The only way to do that is to stick up for what we have, and that means we must all be able to acknowledge that our ways are better.

    --
    The tao of democracy: the government you can vote for is not the real government.
  7. It is Government mandated by mdwh2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Government have repeatedly told the ISPs that if they don't do it "voluntarily", they'll pass a law forcing them to do it. And from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7904607.stm , Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said: "Currently in the UK, 95% of consumer broadband connections are covered by blocking. The government is currently looking at ways to progress the final 5%."

    Yes, they're so far "only" at 95%, but that just means they're not all the way there yet. It is Government mandated though.

    It's the worst of both worlds. We're being forced into it by the Government, but because it's handled by a non-Government entity, there's no oversight or right of appeal, and the Government just say "Oh it's nothing to do with us, the ISPs 'chose' to do this".