French Minister wants more control over the internet
A French woman who attempts to make the internet safer by tracing paedocriminals. She does so under the pseudonym "Neila Moore". Photo AFP, Jean-Philippe Ksiazek
Western Europe
The French Minister of Digital Affairs will present a proposal to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday to make the world wide web a safer place. Besides a porn blocker, several other measures should contribute to that goal.
According to Jean-Noël Barrot, the government should get a tighter grip on the online world. He proposes an anti-propaganda filter, measures to combat cyberbullying and the introduction of porn blockers, among other things.
The proposal wants the French digital authority, Arcom, to have more power to block websites banned by European legislation, La Croix writes. In particular, non-European websites are hit by that measure, for example, broadcasters that stream pro-Russian channels.
In addition, the French government should be able to ban cyberbullies from the internet, the bill proposes. The European Regulation on digital services already forces social media platforms to remove accounts from cyber bullies. However, the bill suggests that French judges should have the authority to ban people from social media for a certain period of time.
Immune
Barrot explains that this is important so that people online do not feel immune to any punishment. “A minority of internet users behave like arsonists ad organise raids of which often women become victims”, he notices.
Also, the proposal propagates the introduction of a so-called porn blocker. To that end, Arcom should get more authority, La Croix writes. Arcom should be able to block websites without judicial permission. Minister Barrot said to AFP that “there is an urgent need to remove our children from the onslaught of porn images on the internet and to enforce the law once and for all.”
The government wants to introduce porn blockers before the end of this year.
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