Petition against Governments ban on Esoteric Information Online

Soldato
Joined
11 Apr 2004
Posts
4,413
If you value a free internet please sign the petition.
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitio...ensorship-of-esoteric-websites-and-web-forums

Can you imagine a world where access to spiritual information was blocked by the government? What if you stopped by an internet cafe, only to find your favorite website was banned by a public web filter, or your friend’s natural health website was blocked because it mentioned ‘spiritual healing’ techniques? A disturbing movement to censor perfectly legal spiritual information is growing (right now in the UK, but other countries are poised to jump on the bandwagon), and will continue unchecked unless people become aware of the problem and protest it. Find out more about the UK filter, and how it will affect you, below.

http://www.reachinglight.com/infographic-uk-filter-block-esoteric-content-worldwide-implications/

UK_Esoteric_Filter_Infographic2.jpg
 
The only down side I can see to blocking spiritual information on the internet is that I would have a reduced availability of idiotic things to read on the internet, aside from issues of free speech.
 
Surely the issue is with government attempting to block access to anything at all, not just neat picking parts of legislation. It's not their internet and definitely not their decision what I should be able to access or not to begin with.
 
Signed. I don't care if the content is woo I want to make my own choice on it's legitimacy.

If they blocked it, it would stop us viewing something hilarious like this:


Also I wonder if the government is going to be consistent with this and block the sales of such magazines as Spirit and Destiny (I doubt it)?
 
would rather they did something meaningful to crack down on the snake oil salesmen and practitioners themselves than simply filter dubious websites about spiritual healing...

My GP practice in London has a homeopath - tis cringeworthy.... I wouldn't be surprised if most of the actual GPs there got their medical qualifications overseas either.
 
I know asking this is probably foolish considering the OP, but is there any actual evidence that the government is intending to ban "esoteric" websites? I am sure if they really wanted to they could just get them under the trade of goods act instead... :D
 
I think my preference for freedom of information outweighs thee dangers of spiritual websites and other alternative gunk.

Would be better to crack down on the so called "professional" alternative healers and such like that can cause serious health problems. A Homeopathic "doctor" should not be allowed to charge people for "prescription" homeopathic "drugs" that have no clinical evidence of effectiveness and have not passed clinical trials to determine safety and side effects. In fact they shouldn't bee allowed the word Doctor or the title "Dr" anywhere near their name if they are practicing and charging patients for consults.
 
The question is, when they have successfully blocked porn and "esoteric material", what's next? It won't stop there...you give an inch they will take a mile. Next only certain newspapers will be allowed, or only certain forums, etc etc.
 
Thanks for signing everyone. Please spread to other forums you frequent.

And 'esoteric' isn't just about homeopathic medicine. What they are really targeting by stealth are alternative viewpoints that undermine the authority of the government that a free internet gives a platform to.

a lot of esoteric material overlaps with conspiracy theories and the states ability to form the opinions of the people through the mainstream media is rapidly being lost and undermined by alternative information sources.

The recent attempt to push us into a war with Syria is a good example. The states attempts to pin the blame of chemical attacks on Assad, via the corporate media using war propaganda, lies and misinformation and providing zero evidence to back-up there claims is a good example of why they want the net censored. Had the net been as dominant back in 2003 as it is now the invasion/looting of Iraq wouldn't have happened I think.
 
Is this not the one that principally blocks the porn but they have found a more intelligent way to word petitions. Thus it sounds like it will cover a multitude of internet topics which will bring more people to object, but really they are objecting to auto filtering porn which, I would expect the majority would not sign a petition against if they have full appreciation of that.
 
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