I’m a centrist, but a vote for Theresa May is a vote for internet censorship

For as long as I’ve been vaguely political, I’ve been centrist. I feel equal disdain for both Labour and the Conservatives: I loathe Jeremy Corbyn and his steadfast refusal to put the good of his own party ahead of his own beliefs, and Theresa May’s plans to gut the NHS further are misguided and harmful.

Yet, what has made up my indifferent voting mind lies quietly buried in the Conservative manifesto, a mere few paragraphs among the 84 pages of strong and stable (13 mentions), and strong and united (also 13 mentions) hyperbole.

Censorship is the opium of the people

“Some people say that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet. We disagree,” it states, outlining plans for a digital charter to regulate private digital companies, social media platforms and content providers, who will risk fines or prosecution if they fail to comply. This will, it alleges, counter “internet harms, just as is already the case with the gambling industry,” and make Britain “the safest place in the world to be online”.

We all want high speed internet but which provider will deliver? (Photo: Tony Webster)
Regulate it, regulate it all (Photo: Tony Webster)

This will be achieved in part by the Tories putting “a responsibility on industry not to direct users – even unintentionally – to hate speech, pornography, or other sources of harm”. While no one in their right mind wants to encourage hate speech, terrorist propaganda or child abuse to flourish online, this appears to suggest Theresa May wants to pressure Google, for example, to point users away from pornography in general.

Hello Snoopers’ Charter, goodbye personal privacy

All pornography = illegal?

If this is a child protection initiative, numerous measures already exist to easily prevent accessing porn, from parental controls to software blockers. This points to a far more complicated moral dilemma about what Theresa May thinks is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ to look at online, when regulation effectively becomes censorship. Once the government dictates what can and cannot be read, we become citizens in a surveillance state (see China, Russia).

You don’t need to look abroad to find rampant censorship – it’s right here in Britain

While both Labour and the Tories have failings too numerous to mention, voting for Theresa May – who, let’s not forget, sanctioned mass surveillance under the Snooper’s Charter – is tantamount to surrendering your digital privacy. It’s little surprise Silicon Valley’s fiercely pro-liberal, pro-digital freedom agenda conflicts with May’s ideals, but the two do share a pro-business prosperity goal. Google, Facebook, Apple et al want more money and more customers, May desperately needs their continued investment in the UK. Attempting to oppress them into censorship seems a funny way to do it.

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