MK Mickey Zohar of the Likud is initiating a bill to automatically block gambling sites and offensive content on the Internet.
According to the proposal, anyone who still wants to browse such sites will have to specifically request it from the provider. For existing subscribers, filtering will be enabled by default within three months of the law coming into effect.
Currently, the service of filtering websites with offensive content is paid and provided only to citizens who request it. According to the bill, filtering will be automatic and free of charge - for every citizen.
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In the explanatory statement to the proposal, MK Zohar wrote: "In the non-virtual world, the law protects minors and prevents them from entering stores" with offensive material, "and gambling centers, but when it comes to the Internet, children are exposed to content that is not appropriate for their age.".
""The Internet is a public place, and alongside the right and freedom of expression of every citizen lies the right and freedom of movement of our children in the public space without encountering content that is not appropriate for their age. Imposing responsibility on every end user is in fact a neglect of the public domain in which our children live.".
In an interview with Galei Tzahal, Zohar said: "Israeli society is not in the best situation in terms of its access to content. He emphasized the need to protect children in the online space and explained the opening of that barrier: "The provider will allow the citizen to simply enter his website and with the click of a button he will be able to open it, after entering identifying information.".
There are other MKs who support the move, but so far all attempts have failed. Now we can wait and see whether such a proposal will gain a majority in the 61st coalition.
