Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron. (AFP/Getty Images)
The movie poster for 2002’s “Irreversible,” which was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The film contains a nine-minute long scene where the character played by Monica Bellucci is beaten and raped. (
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Online porn is going to be shut down in the United Kingdom after Prime Minister David Cameron launched a war on Internet filth.
By the end of 2014, all 19 million households in the UK will be forced to opt into viewing smut because online porn will be automatically blocked.
Under Cameron’s plan, Internet service providers will have to introduce “default on” child filters that will force families to “opt in” to seeing sexually graphic material on their computers, cellphones or tablets.
In an emotional speech where Cameron warned that online porn is “corroding childhood,” the PM said, “We are taking action to help clean up the Internet. One click to protect your home and keep your children safe.”
Although specific details of the “opt in” are fuzzy, Cameron’s description of the firewall’s implementation suggested that it would act similarly to pre-existing disclaimer pages common to pornography sites in the US.
Under Cameron’s plan, when users sign up for a new broadband account — or switch Internet service providers — they’d automatically opt into the porn-banning family filters during the installation process and would have to turn the filters off if they wanted access.
“When someone sets up a new broadband account the settings to install family-friendly filters will be automatically selected,” Cameron said.
“If you just click ‘next’ or ‘enter’, then the filters are automatically on.
“And, in a really big step forward, all the ISPs have rewired their technology so that once your filters are installed, they will cover any device connected to your home Internet account.
“No more hassle of downloading filters for every device, just one-click protection.”
“Now once those filters are installed, it should not be the case that technically literate children can just flick the filters off at the click of a mouse without anyone knowing.”
In addition to the mandatory child filters, Cameron also gave search engines an October deadline to introduce further measures, which would prevent users from looking for “abhorrent” search terms compiled by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.
Images and videos depicting sexual violence, simulated rape and child exploitation will all be made illegal under Cameron’s plan.
Although bans on child pornography are common place the world over, the additional bans on simulated rape and sexual violence have civil libertarians worried because “simulated rape” scenes are often performed by consenting adults.
For example, in the controversial 2002 film “Irreversible,” which was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, there is a nine-minute long scene where the character played by Monica Bellucci is beaten and raped.
It is unclear if that film would be banned by Cameron’s crackdown.