– Internet Take Over?

The Unaccountable Internet Police
Chris Evans - Internet Freedom

Last June, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) announced a partnership with the Metropolitan Police’s Paedophile Unit. The IWF is probably the most powerful Internet censorship body in the UK. Since its foundation in 1996, the IWF has presented itself as ensuring offline legislation is enforced online. They have gone to great lengths to portray themselves as independent, non-governmental and without statutory power. They even managed to enlist Malcolm Hutty, Head of the Campaign Against Censorship of the Internet in Great Britain, to their Board.

How things have changed. Now the IWF have no qualms about admitting to being a major part of the police’s efforts to clamp down on the Net and they receive funding from the EU. The IWF instructs ISPs to remove material and the Internet Service Provider’s Association forces members to comply. Last year 2,930 such instructions were issued. By their own admission over 90% of the material would not have been actionable in UK courts.

The IWF have been keen to respond to every act of paedophilia, issuing press releases indicating that they are doing everything in their (considerable) power to clamp down on child pornography. Like the anti-pornography campaigns of a bygone era, they rely on attempting to equate physical abuse with pornography. But as Guardian writer Ian Buruma commented on the recent jailing of Michael Kelly, “he abused only himself, with the help of 18,000 images in the privacy of his own room. Not a pretty picture, perhaps, but a pathetic rather than a criminal one.”

In February, Malcolm Hutty resigned from the IWF, claiming they were “not prepared to listen to criticism” for their plans to increase their efforts to censor perfectly legal material. ISP representative Clive Feather had already resigned in December last year, citing similar complaints. Chief Executive Peter Robbins insists that the IWF are accountable for their actions. Not to the public, of course. But to what’s left of the Board.