ISRAEL: Internet censorship

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A bill proposing internet providers block access to pornography, gambling and other sites passed a first reading (out of 3 needed to finalize legislation) in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, recently. Intending to protect minors from adult content, the bill sparked debates questioning the effectiveness, ethics and motives behind it. Proposed by Amnon Cohen, a legislator from the ultra-orthodox party Shas, the bill automatically became suspect and was interpreted by some as an attempt to impose a conservative religious agenda on liberal Israelis. Some oppose the notion on principle, others object on grounds that it is ineffective and yet others feel it puts Israel in bad company.

Exactly how the screening would be done isn’t entirely clear yet. One option is that such sites will be blocked by default and users seeking access may ask their provider to remove the block, after proving they are of age. Currently, some 70,000 users already subscribe to screening services of their own initiative, says communications minister Ariel Atias, who let numbers do the talking: 60% of Israeli children surf pornographic sites, 47% have internet access in their private rooms, 40% have given out information to adults and 65% of the parents don’t care what their kids do on the web.’Anyone with eyes in his head and children at home doesn’t want them visiting such sites,’ he said, adding that this proposal will ‘force customers to be active, take responsibility.’

Gadi Shimshon, an internet analyst, objects. ‘we all want to protect children,’ but having to actively request adult sites unblocked will put people on ‘shame lists.’ ‘Get out of my pants,’ wrote critic Raanan Shaked, envisioning the person handling his request, loudly:’Unblock the porno sites for Raanan Shaked! Orly, are you there? Yes, the porn! For Shaked!’ Naturally, the call would be recorded.

Israel has the highest percentage of internet users in the Middle East but evidently doesn’t like sharing certain practices with with some of its distant neighbors. Headlines such as ‘Internet censorship: not only in Iran and Saudi Arabia’ and ‘Good morning Pakistan’ reflect feelings about censorship- and countries believed to employ it.

‘If you too understand that Iran is here,’ reads the flier (shown right) inviting people to a protest Wednesday , adding: ‘so long as we’re still allowed to demonstrate here’. The organizers, ‘Surfing to Freedom’ , stress they abhor the violence, humiliation and exploitation associated with pornographic content but say this isn’t the issue: ‘the movement was born to avert a harsh blow to Israeli democracy’. They asked protesters to come dressed in black and-- of course-- modestly .

— Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusaelem

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