6/24 Germany and U.S.: Child Pornography & Censorship

The Dawning of Internet Censorship in Germany

Appeals Court Backs Prison for E-Mail Obscenity (this article is part of the Wired Threat Level blog)

For this week's post, I was torn between discussing two censorship news items, but both have similarities that provide insight into current censorship issues on the internet. The first concerns internet censorship in Germany, where the parliament voted to install internet censorship architecture. The second case involves censorship of e-mails deemed obscene, as the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided not to rehear the case of a man authoring and emailing pornographic fiction. What struck me about these decisions limiting our intellectual freedom is that they were both made in an effort to combat child pornography.

In Germany, to fight child pornography, the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation will create lists of child pornography sites, and then Internet providers will allow the government to block them using the "secret censorship architecture." The article referenced didn't go into details about the technology behind this censorship architecture, but it did indicate that there is strong mainstream opposition to it based on the possibility that it will lead to more censorship of other objectionable content. The article mentions that German politicians are already inquiring about censoring gambling sites, first-person shooters, and Islamist web pages. This move by Germany brings to mind the recent announcement from China that computers would need to have software installed that would block pornography (though China also reversed its decision). That democratic Germany is being compared to China underscores the seriousness of this decision. The one heartening thing about this case is the fever pitched opposition, with an e-petition of over 130,000 signatures making the rounds on the internet.

The other case occurred in the U.S. and now makes emailing obscene sexual fantasies a federal crime. The man in the case Dwight Whorely did in fact possess child pornography and was convicted because of it. However, the Justice Department also decided to charge him with possessing obscene Manga under the Protect Act, and also convicted him of authoring and emailing to internet friends a pornographic sexual fantasy involving children, with prosecutors using an older statute that outlaws the possession of “any obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy book, pamphlet, picture, motion-picture film, paper, letter, writing, print or other matter of indecent character” as defined by a jury. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided 10-1 not to rehear the case, but the one dissenting judge (a George W. Bush appointee, to my surprise) wants the Supreme Court to hear the case, saying: “I am hard-pressed to think of a better modern day example of government regulation of private thoughts than what we have before us in this case: convicting a man for the victimless crime of privately communicating his personal fantasies to other consenting adults."

I think it appalling the freedoms being lost in the name of protecting children. Concerns for the safety of children seems to make those who are elected and appointed to protect our freedoms ignore the consequences to intellectual freedom that their decisions create. It is also easy for public opinion to support the erosion of freedoms when it comes to laws created to keep predators from children, or apparently even punishing them for thinking about children in sexual ways (as shown by the above court case). This is anecdotal but kind of relates to how we become blinded by our concern for the safety of children. I've always had a problem with the television show To Catch a Predator. I question how healthy it is for a viewing audience to encourage entrapment and the ruining of lives that we know nothing about except for that which the television network allows us to see, and also all done by a television show that is just looking for high ratings. But when I bring up such issues with those who watch, I usually only get fierce defense of the show and the quick labeling of such people as predators who get what is coming to them. When it comes to children, people will probably justify any measures to protect them.

With all the censorship news articles I've read about in this class, I am amazed how much has to do with children, and specifically child pornography (sexting, the Iowa child pornography manga conviction etc). I think maybe our society needs to stop living in fear, but I wonder whether our society has fundamentally changed as we are constantly told to live in fear of threats like terrorism. Hopefully people start coming to their senses about these child pornography issues. If it is not actual photographs/video of child pornography, please, let's not punish people for the private thoughts they might have about children. If there are no victims, let's not throw people in jail. If we are so concerned about child pornography, let's solve it in ways that don't involve "secret censorship architecture," that phrase alone should frighten anyone that has a modicum of unwillingness to let go of his/her intellectual freedom. If we let our fears control our reasoning, we will probably just end up living with even more (fears of government surveillance, censorship of constitutionally protected speech).