Government Policies and Magic Words
Today the government set out on a crusade to ban various sites on the internet because they find the content on those sites distasteful.
Most people would find this objectionable – the idea that – just because a sector of the public disapprove of something – the government can ban it and prevent anyone from seeing it does seem to be the antithesis of what freedom and democracy is all about.
And the fact that various governments have refused to act over certain things in the past mean that they fully understand this concept. We can make jokes about The Pope, about religion, about our politicians without being prosecuted under arcane statutes and being thrown in jail forever and a day.
In addition, the current government seems to be resisting the urge to reverse some of these trends. Every day you head the religious right campaigning for various things to be banned. Their current bugbear is gay marriage – apparently it is an appalling sin for two people who are in love to want to share that love with their friends and the world, and the religious right just won’t shut up about it.
But are the government giving in? No. Despite the truly appalling torrent of homophobic abuse being spouted by the religious right, by a lot of MPs, by the right wing papers, the government are standing firm and doing what they think is right (and in this once instance they are actually right).
And yet – despite the fact they are clearly capable of standing up for what is right and good and decent – they are still going ahead with massive levels of censorship, and they are getting the public to go along with them.
How?
By using one of the three magic phrases that make everything right. Three magic phrases that make it impossible for anyone to stand against you, otherwise they risk being made a pariah by the general public, and – almost certainly – investigations by various bodies as to why they hold the views they hold.
So what are these magic phrases?
The first is "OUR TROOPS". In this day and age if you dare speak out against "OUR BRAVE BOYS IN KHAKI" then you might as well grow a beard and sign up with Al-Qaeda, because everyone you know will consider you to be the scum of the earth. "OUR BOYS" are out there fighting for our freedom and our safety, and saying even one word against them is clearly an act of treason that should be punishable by death.
The second is "TERRORISM". Using the phrase "TO STOP TERRORISM" and the government can justify almost anything. Holding people in detention for three months without trying them? "IT WILL PREVENT TERRORIST ATTACKS" so it must be okay. Wanting people to carry identity papers? "IT WILL STOP THE TERRORISTS SNEAKING IN" so how could anyone object? Using "TERRORISM" the government has thrown people out of the country who have been convicted of no crimes, who haven’t even been tried for any crimes, and yet because the government consider them "dangerous" it behoves them to deport them so we will be safe from "TERRORISM".
And the third is the one they are currently using to justify enacting the most sweeping and powerful censorship laws that I have ever seen in my lifetime.
The third is "CHILD PORN".
If you can say "this is child porn" or "this will encourage child porn" or "this will lead to more children being abused" or "this will be a help to those who wish to abuse children", then you can guarantee that very few people will try to speak out against it. Because if anyone does speak out against a move that can prevent "CHILD PORN" then clearly it must be because they want to see the "CHILD PORN" and so their views don’t matter, and they should probably be arrested and thrown in jail just for daring to speak out against any moves to prevent "CHILD PORN".
And with that in mind I should point out that I am not trying to support the production or creation of child porn. Child abuse is wrong. It will always be wrong. Forcing kids – hell, forcing anyone – to do something against their will is an abominable act and should be condemned.
However, the government aren’t just talking about child porn when they are talking about stopping "CHILD PORN". There was an article on the BBC News Website that said a group want all "staged rape" scenes to be banned on the web. Because they think it will encourage real rape and so it will harm people in the future.
Now I can’t say if that is true or if that is false – I am not an expert on the psychology of rapists – but what I can say is that staging a rape scene (one where the woman in question is not actually being raped but is just acting) is not a crime (as far as I am aware).
Making a film of an eight year old girl having sex is a crime, because eight year old girls can not legally consent, so the person who is having sex with her must be committing a crime. And those who are filming it must be aiding and abetting. And so distributing this film across the web should also be a crime. So should viewing it.
However making a film of someone who looks like they are not consenting, but actually are, is not a crime. And so distributing it is not a crime, and viewing it is not a crime.
How do I know this? Watch The Accused. Watch Irreversible. Watch any number of mainstream films – popular, critically acclaimed mainstream films – that have rape scenes in the,. And – as far as I am aware – no one has been arrested, charged, tried or convicted of watching these films.
And yet the government is considering using the current measures against "CHILD PORN" to ban those, and any number of other "immoral and distasteful" types of pornography from being viewed in this country.
They are using the shield of "CHILD PORN" (something that the vast majority of people would find offensive) to also take action on other types of porn that fewer people would find offensive. And as long as the government frames the discussion in terms of "CHILD PORN" there is no way – NO WAY – the majority of the people would dare to speak out against whatever move they make, simply because it will cast them in the role of someone who likes "CHILD PORN".
They are enacting mass censorship of things that they find distasteful. And they will do it before anyone realises just how much they are going to make illegal.
I am not suggesting you go out of your way to defend child pornography, but I am suggesting you should look beyond what they say they are doing to what they are actually doing.