UK government to force Internet content blocking

The British government is trying to force search engines and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block content and websites

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The claim by Whitehall that it is predominately aimed at porn sites and especially child porn to prevent also and especially children accessing such materials does not hold water as, first of all, accessing child porn is a crime and secondly that no one can believe anymore what they say.

The “for the good of the children” claim has become a mantra under which the freedoms of the individual are being eroded by increments, in the UK and the USA. Blocking porn is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

So-called extremist websites are also in the cross hairs of the government's gun sight and we can take a sure bet that many survivalist sites and such like will also be considered and affected. And, no doubt, alternative media sites such as Russia Today and many others.

In the end we will only be allowed, for our own protection and that of the children, obviously, to access such sites only as are approved by the powers-that-be.

The British and American governments keep harping on about freedom and scream blue murder when the Internet and social media are being censored and restricted by China, in Arab countries, and so on while, at the same time, they are aiming to do the very same at home. The term “double standards” does not even come close to conveying it properly.

While they insist that the Internet must not be censored – and it should not be – as far as what they class repressive regimes such as China, Iran, etc., are concerned a different set of rules are applied to their own citizens. What are they afraid of?

© 2013

Private Web spies monitor activists online for Australian police and attorney-general

God defend me from my friends – from my enemies I can defend myself

by Michael Smith

A private intelligence company has been engaged by police in Australia to secretly monitor internet and email use by activist and protest groups, according to a report.

The company was hired by Victorian Police, the Australian Federal Police and the federal Attorney-General's department to monitor and report on the internet activities of anti-war campaigners, animal rights activists, environmental campaigners, and other protest groups.

The Melbourne-based firm has for the past five years monitored websites, online chat rooms, social networking sites, email lists and bulletin boards, so says the report, and has gathered intelligence on planned protests and other activities, and even though many, if not even the majority, of those on the watch list have broken no laws.

Welcome to the fascist Dominion of Australia. Then again, it would appear that the mother country, Britain, is headed the same way, with the security services running roughshod over all civil liberties possible. Is this a sign of things to come?

This private intelligence company has also prepared threat assessments and intelligence reports for government agencies that included material from media reports, speeches, academic journals and publicly available company data, but no private correspondence, so it is claimed, was monitored.

As to the latter I would, personally, be very dubious. If they go as far as they have gone the chances are that they may have gone further still but that this is more secret than other things.

The company was not named at the request of its management for fear extremists may target the firm.

The news comes a month after Victorian police were found to have targeted community and activist groups in a long-running covert operation.

So much for the claims of freedom and liberties in Australia. If that is freedom and liberty then I would not want to see what happens should they change tack.

There is one difference between Australia and the UK and that is that in Australia it seems to be easier to find out those things that the services are up to compared to the UK. In the latter place the law and the culture of secrecy makes getting such information very difficult indeed, despite of the “Freedom of Information Act” and if they can claim that they are monitoring suspected terrorists then, well, no chance of getting info and anything that ends up leaked and then published could get one killed.

© M Smith (Veshengro), November 2008
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