Bid to curb internet porn sparks freedom row in Britain

In a land whose uptight reputation is belied by its wicked ways, the Conservative-led British government is in midst of a crusade to enact some of the strictest curbs on pornography in the Western world.

The campaign follows the rape and murder of two young girls by men seemingly addicted to online pornography. One of the children, five-year-old April Jones, was buried Thursday after a nationally televised funeral.

Just as in the United States, child pornography is already illegal in Britain. But citing widely accessible brands of legal pornography for "corrupting childhood" and "normalising sexual violence against women," Prime Minister David Cameron has launched an all-out assault that opponents say is pitting state-sponsored morality against internet freedom in one of the planet's most open societies.

Family-friendly filters will soon be automatically installed when most new subscribers sign up for internet service, with customers wishing to view pornography needing to make a conscious choice to turn them off. Before the end of next year, most of the 21 million wired households in Britain will also be placed in the awkward position of having to declare whether they want to keep access to legal online pornography or have it blocked by their telecommunications providers.

Cameron is also demanding that search engines such as Google and Yahoo create a "blacklist" of terms relating to child pornography that, when strung together, come back with no hits. His government is additionally moving to ban the possession of a broader range of images, including not only child pornography but also images depicting consenting adults engaged in violent acts such as simulated rape.

"We now have the ambition to make Britain the most family-friendly democracy in the world," said Claire Perry, a member of Parliament from Cameron's Conservative Party.