European governments are not required to establish an internet filter to tackle illegal practices on the Internet.

The European Parliament rejected a proposal to apply filters, for example in the fight against child pornography, and modified the proposal.

According to many Members of the European Parliament a requirement to filter the Internet goes too far as a measure and may not prove to be the solution for the problem. (...)

MEPs modified the proposal towards an approach where governments have the opportunity to remove illegal material from the Internet. Current plans indicate that the EU moves into the direction of taking down material that proves to be illegal, rather than preventively scanning the contents of web pages. Where the removal of a site is impossible, blocking an entire website is allowed.

European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström (EU Home Affairs) calls for the possibility of Internet filters in the entire union. Some VVD MEPs agree. D66, with the Liberal Party in the Parliament's Liberal Group sees a blockade as a last resort when other measures are not possible. Filtering the Internet by governments is very controversial. Critics say its easy to bypass filters and can filters can be used for censorship.

Filters technically allow governments to scan all consumer behavior on the Internet, such as for example the distribution of copyrighted music and movies. At the moment, the debate in Brussels is mainly to focusing on eradicating child pornography. Of course few people are against this cause. However, governments can also filter the Internet to silence opposition parties.

Filters at the national level are not explicitly prohibited in the most recent proposal, but the conditions that apply to using them have not been clearly established yet.

The new proposal from the European Parliament also asks governments to negotiate with third countries on removing illegal material. Authorities from EU Member States can do nothing against material from outside the EU without such agreements.

Negotiations between Parliament and Council representatives will continue in the coming months, with a view to reaching a compromise preferably in the first half of 2011. Once adopted, this directive will replace current EU legislation dating from 2004. Member States would then have two years to transpose the new rules into their national laws.

Source: European Parliament