STEVENAGE, England – In many ways, the internet is almost a living organism. As such, the collection of wires and electronic impulses resists what it considers harmful to its existence.
Consequently, blocking websites, search terms and specific content is “a blunt and ineffective tool” in the fight to protect children online, according to the Institution of Engineering and Technology, a professional society devoted to influencing the global engineering community and supporting technology innovation.
“Protecting children from online exploitation and abuse are best addressed by parents following the excellent advice provided by GetSafeOnline and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection agency CEOP, and teaching their children to do the same,” said IET Chairman Dr. Martyn Thomas. “Universal blocking of websites, search terms and content is a blunt and ineffective tool and can easily be circumvented. The serious offenders are already using encryption and other technical means to hide their activities, which blocking by ISPs will not affect.
“There are better and more effective ways to protect children,” he added.
Part of Thomas’s position springs from concern about the larger internet community. Backlash against governmental mandates that may be seen as censorship can be brutal, he noted.
“The internet was designed to withstand serious damage, and it treats censorship as damage and provides routes around it,” Thomas said. “There is no quick technical fix that will protect victims.”
Instead of censorship, governments and other concerned entities should consider means of addressing the root problems, not the symptoms.
What might work, he suggested is “education, responsible parenting and more resources for enforcing the laws that already exist.”
The IET claims more than 150,000 members in 127 countries.
