Germany’s Bundestag has succeeded in passing a bill which will establish a content filter for the country aimed at stopping child pornography.
The legislation requires that ISPs display an interstitial warning page when end users attempt to access content flagged on the Government’s clandestine blacklist; the verboten content would remain available for the nation’s truly persistent or lecherous.
The proposed law is the brainchild of Family Affairs Minister Ursula von der Leyen who claimed that the maneuver was an “important sign from society.” It has received significant multilateral support from rival conservative and liberal parties within the German government.
Meanwhile, it has attracted a raft of criticism from the nation’s citizens which filed Germany’s largest ever parliamentary petition containing more than 130,000 signatures. While the move was not enough to stop the bill from clearing its first hurdle, it did prompt a sunset clause which forces the legislation to expire after three years.
There are several more stages for the bill to endure before becoming law, but it appears well on its way, drama and all.
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