LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron is outraged that the recent net neutrality laws passed by the European Parliament will outlaw his government-mandated porn filters, which block adult content by default on some ISPs unless consumers opt-out of them.
“I think it is absolutely vitally important that we enable parents to have that protection for their children from this material on the Internet,” Cameron said during Prime Minister's Questions. “When I read my Daily Mail this morning I spluttered over my cornflakes because we work so hard to put in place these filters.”
Under the net neutrality laws, internet traffic must be treated "equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference" by ISPs.
Conservatives originally introduced the "family friendly filters" in 2013 to prevent pornography from "corroding childhood," and they've pushed for further censorship via stringent age-verification systems that would require personal customer details.
“We take great pride in our world-leading approach to child online safety and would never accept a position which diminished our ability to protect children online," explained a Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson, when asked how exactly the U.K. will bypass E.U. law. “We have ensured the text provides the ability for the regulation to be applied in accordance with national rules. So, where existing rules do not provide the protection that ISPs and mobile operators require, we will introduce new measures. This will most likely be through secondary legislation, so they are able to continue to develop and provide tools for families to stay safe online.”
