A proposed Register of Prohibited Internet Pages and Services built censorship controversy among bloggers and internet users in Poland.
The register is supposedly a measure against child pornography and other illegal content. But it is written in
such a way that has bloggers fearing for their freedom of expression.
The register's critics suggest the confusing legislation will be overused affecting innocent bloggers and internet users.
The bill which suggests the new register does
not state which content will get a webpage on the register and predicts the introduction of a mandatory hindrance in access to pages and services that include illegal content, Finance Ministry spokesperson Magdalena Kobos said, though it remains
unclear what kind of hindrance that should be.
The Ministry suggests self-censorship to users who want to keep off the register, though it worded this basic instruction somewhat differently.
Polish PM suggests
a rethink
Based on article from blogs.wsj.com
Polish Internet surfers appeared to have won a vital battle against censorship plans of the Polish center-right government when Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote an open letter to the online community saying the Cabinet's plans could be
revisited.
The debate comes in response to protests from tens of thousands of Polish surfers who joined groups on community portals speaking out against a government-drafted bill that, if upheld by the Constitutional Tribunal, will create a
register of banned websites and services.
The government's plan, adopted by Parliament last year and sent for a constitutional probe by the president, is part of a wider set of radical anti-gambling measures that Tusk ordered in response to a
lobbying scandal involving senior members of his party.
Surfers fear freedom of speech may fall victim to the government's crackdown as the bill may tempt the public administration to ban not just gambling sites, but whatever content it disagrees
with.
Update: Internet Blocking Abandoned
19th February 2010. Based on
article from blogs.wsj.com
Polish surfers have
just scored a major victory — under the weight of their online protests, Prime Minister Donald Tusk decided to abandon plans for Internet censorship, which are just one step from becoming the law.
In a statement on the prime minister's website,
his office have said that after consultations between Tusk and NGOs the government decided to scrap the register of banned Internet websites, originally designed to block gambling sites.
