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The Internet: Brave New World?

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Technophobia and Technophilia


The Great Debate: Should we censor the Internet?

Discussion and debate
Tuesday, November 26th, 2002
Gateshead Civic Centre

Click Here for proceedings of the discussion

(Nearest Metro: Gateshead. Ample parking at the Civic. Click here for pdf map )
Sponsored by
Hodder and Stoughton
338 Euston Road
London
and
Well Read Bookshop
University of Northumbria at Newcastle

Convened and chaired by David O'Toole

Speakers:

Bill Thompson     Bill is a well known freelance journalist, writer, commentator, radio broadcaster and consultant. Bill was one of the founder members of Nexus the virtual think tank and is regularly a guest on BBC radio programmes like Soundbyte, Outlook, Newshour and Mediumwave.

Chris Evans     Dr. Chris Evans founded Internet Freedom one of the UK's leading cyber liberties campaigns in 1996 and lectures in Multimedia Computing in the School of Business and Management at London's Brunel University.

Ruth Dixon     Ruth was responsible for developing the Internet Watch Foundation hotline from its launch in 1996. In November 1999 she was elected president of the INHOPE Association which brings together Internet hotlines across Europe. She is currently an Internet Consultant specialising in Online Safety and Policy.

Avedon Carol     Avedon is author of Nudes Prudes and Attitudes: Pornography and Censorship and edited "Bad Girls and Dirty Pictures: The Challenge to Reclaim Feminism". She is a member of Feminists Against Censorship and a former member of the executive committee of the National Council for Civil Liberties (Liberty).

The Great Debate: Should we censor the Internet?

During the tragic Holly and Jessica abduction and murder case the Internet once again became the focus of police enquiry. Fears were raised that the two girls had met their abductor after making contact with him or her over the web. This theory was quickly discounted yet this did not stop the inevitable round of calls for legislation restricting access to the Internet and for more controls over its content.

The Internet is commonly portrayed as bad beyond compare, seething with pornography and densely populated by hackers, racists, paedophiles and now the terrorist. There are concerns that the information it contains is largely unregulated and as such is suspect. So...

Should we censor the Internet?

This discussion will look at the question in detail, focussing on arguments over the need for regulation, exaggerated fears and the consequences for free expression...

Come and join the debate.

Click Here for proceedings of the discussion



Relevant Links

The Internet: Brave New World? Book review by David O'Toole
andfinally.com - Bill Thompson's home on the web
Nudes Prudes and Attitudes: Pornography and Censorship by Avedon Carol
Bad Girls and Dirty Pictures: The Challenge to Reclaim Feminism by Avedon Carol
INHOPE Association
Internet Freedom
Internet Watch Foundation
The Unaccountable Internet Police
BBC Website - "Tories call for net paedophile laws"
BBC Website - "Fears for children's internet safety"
Spiked- RIPping into our rights - Sandy Starr



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© C J M Hewett, 2003