Earlier this week, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron revealed an interesting idea in an attempt to combat child pornography in his country.
He wants every household in the U.K. to have its access to internet porn blocked by default. Homeowners would then have to ask their ISP provider to opt out of this block.
My colleague opposite and I - like 99.9% of the population - agree that government can and should do more to eradicate child pornography in this country but he thinks the U.K. plan goes too far.
I, on the other hand, think it's an idea we should adopt here.
Even adult pornography is something we should be discouraging. First, it's not healthy for our children to have access to this stuff.
"Many children are viewing online pornography and other damaging material at a very young age and... the nature of that pornography is so extreme, it is distorting their view of sex and relationships," Cameron said in his speech.
It's true. While parents can add filters to their home computers, how many of you actually do that? How many of you know how? And besides, with laptops, smart phones and tablets, our teenagers are mobile and could potentially gain access to internet porn when outside the home.
A blanket policy such as Cameron's would effectively keep porn away from children and teenagers. It would also decrease porn consumption in the adult population, which isn't such a bad thing.
A recent study by the Witherspoon Institute, signed by more than 50 academics, claims that pornography consumption can "damage people of all ages and both sexes, negatively impacting their relationships, productivity, happiness and their ability to function in society."
To be clear, measures such as those proposed in Britain will not make internet porn illegal - it would still be available to those that really want it. You would just have to opt-in for it.
It would be just like the old days at video stores, where you would have to go in to the back room to get your special videos.
I understand there are technical challenges with Cameron's plan, and I doubt you can block all the internet porn, but it's a step in the right direction - for children and for all of society.
