Given my known interest in privacy, it was a fair bet that this article on the Pinsent Masons website would catch my eye... The article is mostly the same as one which was also printed in the FT's Technology/Digital Business pages, but you might need a subscription to read the full text there.
The author, Struan Robertson, who works for Pinsent Masons and edits their excellent OutLaw newsletter, writes about the recent hoo-haa over a Wikipedia page which included an image (taken from a 1970s album cover) which, by today's laws, is said to be likely to break UK child protection laws relating to the publication of erotically-posed images of subjects under 18. Let me say right at the outset that that is a legal topic on which I am in no way competent to comment, so on those questions, I am happy to take Mr Robertson's word.
However, he does seem to me to miss the point in a couple of respects, notably concerning the boundary between technology and the law... and that's an area where I do feel more qualified to comment. He notes, in the article, that the IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) added the Wikipedia page in question to a blacklist which was then put into effect by the UK's ISPs. As a result, he says, "prevented most UK internet users from accessing the Wikipedia page and it had the unintended side-effect of stopping those users from editing any of the millions of Wikipedia pages".
He goes on to say: "the IWF's model [...] bans pages, not the images themselves. It says this approach is simpler and more effective, though I confess that I don't understand why. Still, if that policy is disproportionate it is only slightly so: it did not blacklist an entire site".
Mr Robertson may, quite understandably, not know what the technical difference is between banning (UK) access to a page and banning (UK) access to a single image within a web page - especially when those pages are hosted outside the UK - but surely you don't have to be technical to understand the difference of effect between banning read access to a single page, and disabling write access to all the pages on a site. A site, incidentally, whose whole point is that it can be edited by anyone.
With respect, then, he is perhaps over-reaching himself with the assertion that such a policy is 'only slightly disproportionate'.
Mr Robertson concludes his article by observing that "[b]alancing our freedom of expression with the protection of children is difficult and important. It is a healthy issue to debate. But like any Wikipedia article, that debate needs some balance. This week that balance was missing."
I agree. Technically, I admit, it may not be easy to ensure that (only) UK internet users are unable to view (just) that image, but remain able to view the rest of that page and to edit Wikipedia pages in general. But that doesn't make the current blanket ban proportionate, and advocating it as such does nothing to introduce balance into the argument.
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Might the story be related to this Home Office announcement
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/using-tech-tackle-terror
"Using technology to tackle terrorism"
18 November 2008
State-of-the art filtering technology will allow parents, schools, businesses and web users to restrict access to terrorism websites.
...
Giving parents and schools the power to protect
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the idea is to help protect young people from radicalisation.
'I want to give parents and guardians the power to decide what content is downloaded on their computers at home, which is why we have worked hard to develop these tools with various software companies,' she said.
Posted by Edgar Whitley on December 19, 2008 at 01:35 PM GMT+00:00 #
Thanks Edgar - fascinating stuff. So, they are about to succeed where years of previous attempts have failed.
I will be interested to see how this works, and just what a concerned parent will be expected to do in order to apply these safeguards. Perhaps it will be a simple 'slider' like the ones for privacy and ad-blocking:
"You have chosen the 'Moderate' level of protection against access to terrorist websites:
- access to radical Islamist sites will be blocked;
- access to freedom-fighting sites may be allowed, depending on which side you're on.
Please be aware that on this setting, your children may still be able to access offensive material such as BNP web pages, Christian Voice UK, Intelligent Design proponents, Ann Coulter articles and campaign footage of the Governor of Alaska."
Posted by Robin Wilton on December 19, 2008 at 06:11 PM GMT+00:00 #