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Deutsch: Websperren müssen der Wahrheit ins Auge blicken

In the negotiations surrounding the formation of a new conservative-liberal coalition in Germany following the recent elections, an agreement has been reached to postpone, for at least a year, the introduction of web blocking. As the law has already been adopted, the procedure by which the law will be stopped from entering into force has not yet been decided. Coincidentally, the UK government decided also not to introduce mandatory blocking to force the remaining consumer ISPs to follow the "voluntary" blocking already undertaken by the major ISPs in that country.

In Germany, the plan is to use the existing legislation in order to remove as much illegal material as possible from the Internet. After an initial 12-month trial, this approach will be reevaluated. It remains very unclear, however, on what criteria the re-evaluation may take place. The approaches of the two coalition partners on this issue are very different, with the liberal FDP steadfastly opposed to blocking during the election campaign, while the blocking legislation was pushed by the conservative CDU Minister von der Leyen. By default, therefore, the approaches and interpretations that will be taken on the "re-evaluation" will also most probably be divergent.

The decision to prioritise the removal of child abuse images from the Internet was criticised by organisations whose purpose is to protect children, including Unicef. Unicef's press release explains that blocking is necessary because takedown of illegal sites is "not possible" in "foreign" countries. However, the organisation does not find it necessary to criticise or name any of the major countries which leave images of child abuse online rather than removing them. This is particularly surprising when we consider that all countries in the world, with the exception of the USA (which has signed the Optional Protocol on Child Pornography) and Somalia have signed and ratified the binding UN Child Rights Convention which requires state parties to take all appropriate national, bilateral and international measures to prevent the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.

No internet censorship in Germany for the next year (18.10.2009)
http://ak-zensur.de/2009/10/access-blocking-germany.html

Home Office backs down on net censorship laws (16.10.2009)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/16/home_office_iwf_legislation/

German Internet Blocking Bill Suspended (18.10.2009)
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/10/18/german-internet-blocking-bil...

UNICEF: Priority for Child! Access barriers are an important step - Further action needed (16.10.2009)
http://www.unicef.de/091016vorrang_fuer_k.html

(contribution by Joe McNamee - EDRi)