LONDON — HarrietSugarcookie.com is shining a spotlight on a new U.K. law that is set to go into effect this summer, potentially restricting access to over four million adult websites worldwide.
In the article titled, “Censorship: A U.K. Law is About to Block 4 Million Websites,” guest columnist Jerry Barnett explains the Digital Economy Bill, which will force adult sites to add age verification check systems as well as ban “unusual sexual practices” and/or “extreme porn.”
“This year, the U.K. is set to become the first democratic country to introduce a Chinese-style internet censor,” Barnett wrote. “This is (or at least, should be) a big deal. While focus has been on the ‘extreme adult content’ part, the bit about age checking is actually far more dangerous, as it will result in literally millions of websites being blocked in the U.K.
“The government’s ‘solution’ to the problem is to create a censorship body with the power to block websites,” continued Barnett, who founded the site SexandCensorship.org to “educate and empower citizens to exercise their rights to defend free expression in the country.” “This new law will probably be in breach of EU law that protects net neutrality, but in their infinite wisdom, the British people have decided to leave the EU, and in the process, abandon these protections of their human rights.”
To read the entire article, visit HarrietSugarcookie.com.
For more information, follow Sugarcookie on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.