ISP Porn Block: Why it won’t be just child porn

The NTC has clarified that only child porn will be filtered by the ISPs and there was a huge sigh of relief from everyone. For once, it looks like netizens are trusting the NTC that it will follow that directive and that alone.

Then again, who is to say that there won’t be any overlap or abuse of discretion?

When was the last time we thought that the government would only block the letters X and Y and they won’t really block the entire alphabet from A to Z.

Liberal Definition.

What is considered porn? The term “porn” alone is subject to a lot of interpretation. What may be an expression of the art of human anatomy can be already considered as porn by others. As such, the interpretation of what is porn is dependent on how liberal or conservative the implementing body (or the head of that body) is.

How to identify if a subject is a minor? The term “minor” means any person under the age of eighteen years old. Again, that is open to discretion and guesstimates. How will the implementing body determine if a subject in a porn site is not a minor? Visually, it is very hard to distinguish a 17-year old from a 19-year old.

In both cases stated above, the normal tendency is to err on the side of caution. Meaning, if in doubt of the nudity, it must be porn (or if in doubt of the age, it must be a minor).

A Drop of Child Porn in a Sea of Porn.

Majority of the porn sites that Filipinos visit are generally adult sites. So, generally, they are also exempted from the filters of the ISP. This might hold true for managed or paid adult sites where the content is controlled by the operators.

However, the rest are user-generated or user-contributed porn sites. As such, the content that is being regularly contributed to those sites may come from adults or minors. As such, any single instance that a porn content of a minor is uploaded or contributed to the site, it automatically becomes child porn.

The Lobbying Crowd.

While the implementing body is independent, there were always be outside forces that will influence them. From congressmen to senators, all the way to Malacanang and the Archbishop’s House.

Remember Mark Verzo and the BoyBastos story from 2007? Even before the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, Sen. Loren Legarda was already asking the NBI to shut down sites like ThePinoyTube.

The Litmus Test.

Just like the brouhaha on the alleged more stringent requirements in immigration to Filipinos travelling abroad, this IRR could also be a litmus test to see how people will tolerate some level of censorship or control.

So yes, child porn is the primary target here but adult porn could easily be the collateral damage.

And while we agree that the Republic Act No. 9775 should be enforced we’re also wary of what else would tag along with it.