UK holds Net censorship conference

The conference, held by the Association of London Government, identified newsgroups as the major problem area of the Internet as far as distribution of illegal pornography was concerned. Donna Hughes, a lecturer at the University of Rhode Island, US, claimed the Internet was also being used by people in the UK to exchange information on where and how to buy women and children from third world countries for use as sex slaves.

Delegates agreed the nature of the Internet would make it difficult to completely remove all illegal material. Practical solutions included enforcement of a site rating system which would allow users to filter out undesirable sites. Also, while individual states would be powerless to prevent people in other countries posting offensive material on the Net, it was agreed police forces should be given more power to prosecute people within their jurisdiction who use the Internet for illegal purposes.

For more information on the conference, The Democratic Voice of London can be contacted by telephone on 0171-222 7799.