Online Porn May Be Banned In Iceland

The musical Avenue Q had a hilarious segment where the puppets sang “The Internet is for porn“, which pretty much sums things up for some people, but we cannot deny that porn is still a taboo subject in some cultures. While there are people who joke about it and are open about it, it still is a rather sensitive topic. If the Icelandic government has its way, it is soon going to be the first Western country to ban all Internet porn.

Sasha Grey is one of the Adult Industry’s biggest stars. Users in Iceland may soon find it much harder to watch her online.

Before you panic, there is a legitimate basis for the online porn ban being proposed by Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónasson. The whole idea is to make sure that young people will not be exposed to pornographic images and videos via consoles, phones, and computers. It’s not like this is a novel thing in the country, as they do have laws covering porn, but not via online platforms.

The argument

The government official’s proposed online porn ban is based on studies that have taken a look at the harmful effects of Internet sex. Some key points include:

• the extremely violent nature of the material now freely available on the web was increasing the intensity of sex attacks;
  
• children exposed to violent pornography at an early age were showing the similar signs of trauma as youngsters who had been actually abused; and
• porn violates the rights of both women who appear in it and children who are exposed to it. (Source)

How are they going to do it?

The government is considering several steps in the online porn ban effort. One, they can block IP addresses associated with porn sites. Two, using Icelandic credit cards to access adult sites can be considered illegal.

Two sides of the coin

On the one hand, there are people who think that it’s about time for governments to take concrete measures such as this online porn ban. On the other hand, there are people who think it’s all about the government trying to control the Internet.

Which side do you think makes more sense? What do you think of the Icelandic government’s plans?

[Images via jezebel & gawker]