U.K. & Porn

In very recent news David Cameron, U.K.'s prime minister, has announced that they will be rolling out a new legislation to fight the common household's exposure to porn.

From what I've seen in most internet response, people are extremely angry about this move and are calling the British government fascist and even Islamist.  Apparently this moves into the area of "censorship" and no one wants their porn censored!

This isn't a surprise though.  In this article:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/feb/16/uk-iceland-ban-internet-porn  published on February 16, 2013, the writer predicts that Britain will follow the steps of Iceland (um, who even knew that Iceland already censored porn?) and will no longer make porn readily available for little eyes and ears. 

The fact is:  I don't live in Britain so I don't know the detailed statistics of their violence and child abuse incidences, but apparently it is very high.  Studies have been conducted which link pornography with violence, especially in tandem with young children being exposed to it.

Britain's new legislature will force ISPs (internet service providers) to filter pornography from households automatically.  If a person so desires to have that at their fingertips, they must be over 18 to choose that option.

Many people's arguments are that protecting children should be left up to the parents, not the government.  However...what happens if the parents aren't doing their jobs?  

The government has other laws that protect children.  There are legal age limits on movies, smoking, etc.  Why is this so different?

Here's a interesting graph that was published in January of this year:

David Cameron addressed Google, Bing and Yahoo directly with these words:

|You have a duty to act on this--and it is a moral duty.

Britain also plans to block pornographic sites, specifically those related to child abuse, on all public wi-fi networks and mobile phones.

Some online articles I have read consider this new statute being implemented a violation of privacy and individual choice.  However, what the main issue here is:  do little children who are unwittingly exposed to porn have a choice in the matter?  It's one thing if it's an adult deciding to click on an 18+ link;  it's a different story when searches are causes involuntary pop ups to spew all over one's screen.

So here's  the point that so many protesters are missing:  where has the innocence of our children gone?  Sure it's the parents responsibility to watch their children and enable blockers on their home internet, but what about at a school library?  Or at a friend's house?  Or on their phone?

Should pornography (specifically CHILD and violent pornography) be a RIGHT?  Does the existence of the internet give us free rein to view whatever we want? 

And if Britain is truly struggling with social issues relating to this, shouldn't they want to find a fix instead of crucifying someone who is trying to do something, anything, to address the issue?

Are we supposed to pass moral responsibility onto other people, claiming it's not our issue and pretending there isn't a problem?  Where is the line drawn?

Sound off!