UK's New Mandatory Porn Filter Already Defeated By A Single Chrome Extension

Free Speech

from the it-can-be-beaten-with-one-hand-(tied-behind-your-back) dept

The UK’s anti-porn firewall is now mostly erected. Two major ISPs have already put the opt-out-only system into use. As is to be expected, The Wall Moralizing Built has a few problems, not the least of which is its tendency to catch legitimate sites in its filtering system. This is a problem that will only get worse. The filtering in place now is a starting point. The system is built to be ratcheted up and as the government decides other search terms and websites aren’t worthy of public attention, they too will be added to the blacklist.

Of course, your filtering is only as strong as your containment. And for all the tough talk from Cameron and various hand-wringers, the way past the porn filter is little more than a few clicks away.

Just days after UK ISPs began filtering porn at government demand (not to mention legitimate sex ed websites), a simple Google Chrome extension highlights the futility of trying to censor the Internet’s naughty bits. The extension, dubbed “Go Away Cameron,” simply utilizes a proxy to get around the filters.

The creator of the extension previously made a version to bypass web blocking in his homeland, Singapore. This extension isn’t specifically targeted at any blacklist, which means it can also be used by anyone in any country, as well as by employees looking to circumvent web blocking implemented by employers.

According to the creator, Go Away Cameron is a private, smart proxy service that engages when blocking is detected. He also claims nothing about the end user is collected or saved, including the IP address.

So, that’s how easy it is to circumvent the UK’s porn firewall. Not that anyone expected it to be a challenge. Most probably figured using a proxy is all it would take. The astounding thing is that politicians obviously believe this lousy bit of state-ordained soft censorship will actually turn the UK into a less, I don’t know, sinful nation. As is pointed out in the Reddit thread (and by Karl Bode at DSLreports), Australia’s $84 million porn filter was circumvented in less than a half-hour… by a 16-year-old student.

The ISPs likely don’t care that the filtering system has been defeated even before it’s been fully implemented. They were largely against this move in the first place. The politicians, if they can be bothered to address the inadequacies of the system, will probably claim they’re just trying to help concerned parents out — and other citizens who would have no interest in circumventing the leaky system.

It’s just as weak as critics knew it would be and just as useless as any other effort in the nanny-state department. It serves no greater purpose than to massage the egos and self-satisfaction of legislators who think public morality can be regulated successfully.

Filed Under: censorship, chrome extension, david cameron, filter, uk