Lapsiporno.info
Lapsiporno.info is a Finnish website opposed to Internet censorship. The website was founded and is maintained by software developer and researcher Matti Nikki, and focuses on the filtering of the Internet in Finland, its effectiveness and issues and problems related to it.
By December 2007, following changes in Finnish legislation, Keskusrikospoliisi, the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), had compiled a secret blacklist of websites that it deemed to contain child pornography and sent it to Finnish Internet service providers. Although the filtering is optional, Viestintäministeriö, the Ministery of Communications, has threatened to make it mandatory should service providers not implement it voluntarily. Nikki then wrote a program that scanned through adult websites to find out how the list works. By January 7, 2008, he had scanned through 100,000 websites and wrote on lapsiporno.info that of the 785 censored sites the large majority contained in fact legal pornography.[1]
To prove his claims, Nikki published the results of his research on his website, including a list of the blocked addresses he found. Analyzing the address list, Nikki also noted that the first three Google search results for "gay porn" are censored. Electronic Frontier Finland (EFFI) have noticed that the blacklist includes non-pornographic websites also, including a Windows advice forum, a computer repair service and the Internet Initiative Japan server nn.iij4u.or.jp that, among others, hosts websites for a violin factory, a doll store and a hearing aid manufacturer.[2][3]
Censored by the Finnish police
On February 12, 2008, after Elisa customers could not access the website it was found that NBI had added lapsiporno.info to their filtering list.[4] The police has refused to comment on which websites are censored and why, but chief inspector Lars Henriksson of the NBI stated that the list includes websites that contain at least one image that is deemed child porn as well as websites that contain a link to such site.[5][6]
EFFI has demanded NBI to explain why a website that only contained articles and a list of blocked addresses was censored. Leena Romppainen, member of the board of EFFI, stated that "if the site really had some illegal content, wouldn't the correct solution be to take the site down and take the site owner to the court? The site is located on a Finnish server and the name of the site owner appears visibly on the root page of the site." Most of the censored websites on Nikki's list are located either in the United States or in the European Union, and Romppainen continued: "The local authorities have taken no action on these sites. Therefore, either the sites do not contain child pornography or the NBI has not informed the local authorities." Tero Tilus of EFFI stated that "some faceless official decides which sites the Finns may not see, and this decision cannot be appealed. Now he has apparently decided that net filtering may not be criticised."[7][8]
Jyrki Kasvi, member of Finnish Parliament, also questioned the legality of censoring lapsiporno.info, noting that according to Finnish law, only websites hosted outside Finland can be added to the filtering list, and reminded that the Minister of Transport and Communications, Susanna Huovinen, who lobbied for the law, had emphasized openness and transparency.[9] EFFI and Kasvi have also voiced concerns about attempts to expand the Internet censorship beyond child pornography, following propositions in the media to censor online gambling websites.[5][6]
Nikki believes that one of the reasons leading to his website being blacklisted was a function that he added to his address list, which simply turned a list of static text into clickable links. He states that he had already known that the police are adding websites to the filtering list based on this, and said that he will not remove the link functionality, because there is nothing illegal about it.[4] On his website, Nikki has also reminded that the Internet filtering system was originally implemented despite University of Turku's Faculty of Law's statement that the system would be against the Constitution of Finland.
The content of lapsiporno.info was quickly mirrored to other servers, and Nikki has helped this copying by releasing the website content under the Creative Commons license CC-by-nc-sa.[10] On February 14, computer magazine Tietokone reported on its website that NBI's actions had caused several complaints to the Parliamentary Ombudsman as well as to the Office of the Chancellor of Justice.[11] Nikki will face questioning by the police. He is suspected of aiding in distribution of a picture offending sexual morality.[12]
Status of lapsiporno.info with Finnish Internet service providers
| Service provider | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Online | Not censored | 24 Online's CEO has stated that it is not their job to limit their customers' use of the Internet.[13] |
| DNA | Censored | |
| Elisa | Censored | |
| FUNET | Not censored | |
| Kymen Puhelin | Censored | |
| Mikkelin Puhelin | Censored | |
| Netplaza | Not censored | |
| Netsonic | Not censored | |
| Nebula | Not censored | |
| Saunalahti | Censored in some regions | Saunalahti is owned by Elisa. |
| TeliaSonera | Will be censored | Sonera have stated that they will begin filtering in March 2008.[13] |
| TNNet | Not censored | The website was censored at some point but currently the ISP is free of censorship. |
| Vaasan Läänin Puhelin | Censored | |
| Welho | Censored |
See also
References
- ^ ""Lapsipornolistat ovat tehottomia ja laittomia"". Digitoday (in Finnish). 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "Finland censors anti-censorship site". The Register. 2008-02-18. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
- ^ "Effi kantelee poliisin nettisensuurista oikeuskanslerille". Digitoday (in Finnish). 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
- ^ a b "Poliisi sensuroi lapsiporno.infon". Digitoday (in Finnish). 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ a b "Poliisi sensuroi suomalaisen internetsivuston". YLE (in Finnish). 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ a b "Police Censored a Finnish Website". YLE. 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
- ^ "Sensuuria vastustava nettisivu poliisin suodatuslistalle". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "Effi: Finnish police censors a critic of censorship". Electronic Frontier Finland. 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "Kasvi: miksi kotimainen sivu sensuroitiin?". Tietokone (in Finnish). 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "Poliisi ei kommentoi Nikin sivuja". Tietokone (in Finnish). 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "Poliisin nettisensuurista tulvii kanteluita viranomaisille". Tietokone (in Finnish). 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
- ^ "Nikki joutuu kuulusteluun rikoksesta epäiltynä". Tietokone (in Finnish). 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
- ^ a b "Osa operaattoreista päästää kielletyille verkkosivuille". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2008-02-14.