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Kristopher M. Kemp 10/27/2013 U0816317


Internet Censorship, Should We Censor Porn?

A problem in the world today is the sexual crime rates. Whether it be rape, violence against your significant other, or sexual harassment, every country on this earth faces the same problems. Throughout

the world, countries are finding ways to censor porn across the internet in an attempt to solve these problems with the number one excuse being, save the children. Censorship is an excuse to get votes from the general public rather than provide a genuine solution for the country. In this paper I will discuss how there is no statistical evidence to support the censorship of pornography. I will also show how censorship does more harm than good and whether or not censorship is actually a good campaign tool especially in the UK. And in conclusion I will offer an alternative solution to the problem while explaining while these problems arise. To argue in a statistical form, there are no records or proof that porn affects sex crimes, rape, or physical abuse. In India; where porn is illegal; there are huge rape problems across the country ("Porn Blocked in the UK?!" Sara P.). On the opposite end of the spectrum, in the United States where we are considered the kings of pornography, according to the New York Times, rape and sex crimes have dropped eighty seven percent in the last ten years (No More Porn Sourcefed). There is absolutely no evidence that censorship leads to lower crime rates. Therefor instead of the target being the content on the internet, the target should be the people that commit crimes and the idea to physically protect the children rather than shelter them. But then again, protecting children from poverty would be too costly for the government, and would not attract as much attention from the press as, Promising to stop the scary internet from turning

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our children into depraved little filthwizards, (Penny, Laurie. "LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions."). Most people would think that porn does so much more harm than good, but there is a vast amount of good that comes from pornography. From a business point of view, porn makes up over thirty percent of information transmitted across the internet and is one of the most diverse and profitable products in the world (Genung, Mike. "Current Porn Statistics."). A successful company involved with adult pictures and films can expect an income from anywhere from four billion to ten billion dollars a year (Agboola, Sam. "American Porn."). According to actual workers in the business, once in a stern position in the business, it is easy to make six digit numbers a year working seven days a week (Agboola, Sam. "American Porn.". Restrictions to a widely accepted business as pornography would have the same impact as putting limiting where an individual may purchase alcohol. It would not only affect multiple multi-billion dollar companies by affecting their value in distribution but also forces consumers to partake in environments that raise potential for accidents and forces them to leave their comfort zone. The pornography business is a recession proof business. The only factor that defines a pornography business is its value in distribution. Putting restrictions and censors on internet pornography impacts the lives of everyone in that line of work because it so directly affects the potential to distribute product. Even though the idea of saving the children is widely used to raise approval in the government, countries such as the UK push for all out bans. On July 22, 2013 Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he had teamed up with four of the biggest internet providers in the field of pornography filters and bans ("Porn Blocked in the UK?!" Sara P.). But was it not David Cameron himself who, seven years ago, advised politicians to encourage the change of

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companies rather than the over-regulation of them? To clarify Prime Minister Camerons intentions Cameron elaborated: I want to talk about the internet, the impact it is having on the innocence of our children, how online pornography is corroding childhood. And how, in the darkest corners of the internet, there are things going on that are a direct danger to our children, and that must be stamped out. Im not making this speech because I want to moralize or scaremonger, but because I feel profoundly as a politician, and as a father, that the time for action has come. This is, quite simply, about how we protect our children and their innocence (David Cameron 2013). In response, internet providers in the UK are required to put family-friendly filters on the millions of users, unless the consumer specifically asks to have it removed. Because of the smaller target group of people able to access certain content, the ability to track illegal content viewing will significantly increase. So what do the citizens of the UK think about the new changes? According to a study by the Business Standard on July 30th 2013, pornographic sites are visited more in the UK than social media and shopping (Genung, Mike. "Current Porn Statistics."). In a country where the number one source of internet traffic is pornography related, restrictions involving the complete block of adult content not only eliminates a very successful business but can affect the mental health of the millions who watch the content. Suddenly the nine billion dollars in revenue from porn is depleted and another source of income is needed (Genung, Mike.
"Current Porn Statistics."). And millions of the general public must find a new source to vent built

up emotions. When you are forced to suffer due to lack of government funds and no way to relief

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stress, you are going to be upset. And that is how most the country is feeling towards these restrictions and bans. These kind of changes even affect the United States of America. The United States is widely known for its vast amount of freedoms and opportunities. But yet all over the country, states are working to censor the internet in an attempt to relieve some of the pressures on parents of policing their children. Yet, what is a better example of freedom of speech and expression than the internet? The dangers of upsetting the entire nation by denying them of their rights are widely increasing. The US would consider the UK to be their Beta Testers, according the Lionel, an ex-prosecutor and anchorman of a morning news show. That being said, the US might look to the UK and follow in their footsteps. If that were to happen, not only would the government be invading our privacy even more by seeing what everyone is viewing, but would be censoring the thing that the world considers the most free. Parenthood is a word that can be interpreted differently by every guardian across the world, and yet one thing still stands true, a parent must protect and raise their children how they seem appropriate. And yet, governments have decided to take it upon themselves to protect children from the influences of adult content. If parents were doing their job as protectors of children, than the government would find no need to step in. This is where I advise a solution. Of course parents cannot proctor their children twenty-four seven, but that is life. Everyone will be exposed to that content in some form or another in their lifetime and it is something society must realize. Would it not be more reasonable and safer to slowly expose our children to these things? If the progressing issue is that children are being corrupted by the images and videos presented on the internet, and their minds are slowly being molded away by the bog that is pornography, than one could deduce that every mind in the world is infested. Every individual at

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some point in their life will be exposed so some sort of pornography or sexual image. One could even say that each sexual act an individual has with their significant other is an exposure. Sex is a natural part of life and should be treated as such, not some spawn of Satan that snatches young minds. The number one reason for children between the ages of six and seventeen search for pornography is curiosity. Because of the lack of sex education in schools, children are forced to discover information on the matter on their own. Over the centuries men and women have given their lives in the pursuit of information and knowledge, and yet children are being punished in their pursuit of knowledge that society has deemed too mature for their minds. The bounds which a human in that stage of life would go in order to discover knowledge on the opposite sex as well as the act of mating, are endless. As children, a child would pay whatever it took, or take the risk of getting in trouble if it meant they could ease their curiosity. The search for knowledge is in our nature and is forcing children to access the internet to learn about sex and the opposite gender which can present false ideas of the subject. Because schools in America do not offer adequate sex education, children see role playing in the form of rape and abuse in pornography and wrongfully assume that is how sex is supposed to be, which then transmits to real life. Pornography puts those and other videos under fantasy for a reason, it is meant to only exist in the imagination. But if a child was taught that these things are fictional and are bad, than there would be a decrease in sex crimes. In conclusion, censorship is being used for the wrong reasons by the government. Not only is there no proof that these restrictions and censors actually help the sexual violence situation but actual does more harm than good. Even though the main reason governments use censorship is for approval and votes, it is to an extent more harmful to their approval and image

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than good. To solve the sexual violence problems of our world, schools need to introduce better sex education in order to kill the curiosity of the children.

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Work Cited Agboola, Sam. "American Porn." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/business/howtheme.html>. Chapman, James, and Matt Chorley. "Porn Depicting Rape to Be BANNED in Crackdown on 'poisonous' Websites as Cameron Unveils Protection for Every Home." Mail Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2372833/Internet-porn-depictingrape-BANNED-Cameron-unveils-opt-rule-web-users.html>. Defranco, Philip. "UK PORN BAN, COMIC CON SUICIDE & HOW TO SAVE YOUR DOG." YouTube. YouTube, 22 July 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GEova0BTeM>. Genung, Mike. "Current Porn Statistics." Road to Grace. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.roadtograce.net/current-porn-statistics/>. P., Sara. "Porn Blocked In The UK?!" SourceFed. Lifestyle, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://sourcefed.com/porn-blocked-in-the-uk/>. Penny, Laurie. "LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions." LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr>. Plackett, Benjamin. "Will the U.S. Ban Porn Too? | The Connectivist." The Connectivist Will America Ban Porn Too Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.theconnectivist.com/2013/07/will-america-ban-porn-too/>. Ross, Tim. "Online Porn: David Cameron Declares War." Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10194073/Online-porn-DavidCameron-declares-war.html>.

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