Worried about online porn? Don't regulate the net

[ThePitt]

The sight of David Cameron weighing into the "internet porn filters" debate ? in a move nicely timed to distract the Conservative press from the uncomfortable news of Tory councillors losing seats by the score ? isn't exactly one to fill the more web-savvy with confidence. Let's point out first that we've been here before, back in October, when Cameron proposed exactly the same idea: that people taking out new contracts with internet service providers (ISPs) should have to opt in to being able to "access porn". The idea then was that the "big four" ISPs ? BT, TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky, who cover 17.6m of the more than 19m broadband users in the UK ? would let people tick (or untick) a box when they got a new contract.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/07/online-porn-regulate-kids-not-net

[Crisp]

Everything on the Internet should be accessable. It should be your responcability as a parent to get websites filtered.

[TCA]

Everything on the Internet should be accessable. It should be your responcability as a parent to get websites filtered.

or monitor what they are doing on the computer as well. Parents today rely too much on the ISP's and government(s) to do this for them, when it is not their responsibility, to monitor everyone else's child on what they are doing online. Unless you GIVE the government a reason to monitor.

[Aethec]

How dare you suggest parents have any kind of responsibility when it comes to their kids? Educating your kids is the role of anyone but you!

/s

(sadly, some people actually believe that)

[McKay]

Doesn't Windows Vista and 7 include software with parental blocking for the internet? Why don't they use that? Also this system needs to be an entirely opt-in system.

[Seahorsepip Veteran]

Typical a american viewpoint >.>

Always scared that their kids might get psychological issues from such things, reminds me of a friend I knew from Belgium who didn't knew about the existence of porn until we told him about it(He was 17).

[Hum]

I worry that we'll run out .... :huh:

[Kreuger]

What? You want me to take time out of my important as hell life and actually be a parent? Go away with your madness!

[M_Lyons10]

Everything on the Internet should be accessable. It should be your responcability as a parent to get websites filtered.

Agreed. This nonsense of parents not being responsible to actually parent their children is absolutely ridiculous. My kids wouldn't be on these sights, and there's no reason to permit them. But then, there's a lot my kids wouldn't be allowed to do that parents seem to find acceptable at this point.

[M_Lyons10]

How dare you suggest parents have any kind of responsibility when it comes to their kids? Educating your kids is the role of anyone but you!

/s

(sadly, some people actually believe that)

LMAO. I agree with your sarcasm...

[startrek1997]

How dare you suggest parents have any kind of responsibility when it comes to their kids? Educating your kids is the role of anyone but you!

/s

(sadly, some people actually believe that)

Lol, I am all for what you said. I may be only 18 but i was raised to respect my parents. But some of the kids today dont give a crap about there parents. As long as they are there for money and food the kids are happy. :/

[zeta_immersion]

I agree with the opt in but the other way around ...

OPT IN to be added to the denied porn censored list

and NOT

OPT IN to be in the accessible porn list ... huge difference that means if you wnat your kids not to be able to access porn then opt in, otherwise everyone can use it .... much better option

[Buttus]

wait, wait, wait.... you mean parents can't blame everyone else for how their kids are raised?!?

[jakem1]

I agree completely with the sentiments everyone's expressed here and in the original article. I also find it amusing that the pro-censorship lobby is also so keen to restrict access to anything sexual but don't seem to care about access to violence which is far more damaging IMO.

Having said that, it's difficult for parents to control internet access on smartphones and the mobile phone companies need to do more to help parents in this area. Smartphones are only going to become more common and parents can't be around to monitor what their kids do on their phones.

[protocol7]

I hate to break it to the yummy mummys out there but this just isn't going to work. Whatever you block at home is blocked at home. Before I could get broadband I used a cheap internet cafe and you should see the things I saw schoolkids looking at online. Censorship isn't the answer, just train your kids right and you won't have to worry about every little thing.

[The_Decimator]

But if my parents monitored my internet usage when I was a child, I would've never discovered online forums!

...Wait a minute, maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad thing...