LONDON — Sex & Censorship, a U.K.-based free speech and sexual freedom group, has declared tomorrow “an online day of action” in opposition to what it perceives as the upscaling of Internet censorship in the U.K.
The group on its website urges supporters to use the #CensoredUK hashtag on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms tomorrow as a collective stance against further online censorship.
SexAndCensorship.org offers sample tweets for those who wish to participate in its online day of action, including "China praises UK Internet censorship plans http://bit.ly/1hM5aKj" and “British Library censors Hamlet as ‘too violent’ http://bbc.in/1e4QMfQ."
The online day of action was scheduled to coincide with U.K. media regulator ATVOD’s conference “For Adults Only? — protecting children from online porn,” which Sex & Censorship Founder Jerry Barnett has vocally criticized.
The latest post on SexAndCensorship.org reads, “For three decades, the U.K. has been sleepwalking into censorship. It would be inaccurate to say we still are: now we are running at full speed! Most of the censorship measures have been introduced under the banner of ‘protecting children’; now we are told our children are under threat from the Internet. And yet no reliable evidence of a threat has been produced.”
Last month Barnett published an open letter to ATVOD board member Julia Hornle complaining that the inclusion of speakers Paula Hall and Julia Long in the “For Adults Only” conference could skew the conversation.
He said that the inclusion of Hall and Long is inappropriate because their "beliefs seem out of place at a conference dedicated to child protection."
The ATVOD event, chaired by Channel 4 News social affairs editor Jackie Long , will be held at the Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2, tomorrow from 4-7:30 p.m.
The ongoing debate over Internet censorship in the U.K. was stoked by British Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent initiative calling for mandatory “family friendly” filters on all Wi-Fi devices, which would require users to opt-in to see porn and other explicit content. Those filters are slated to kick in early next year.
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