Moshe Feiglin on Radio Tel Aviv: The Pornography Bill

The battle over the Pornography Bill, which says that internet providers in Israel will be obligated to offer the customer a package that blocks offensive content, has awakened a lively public discourse. In an interview this week on Radio Tel Aviv and on his Facebook page, Moshe Feiglin said the following:

When a person wishes to buy an internet package, the provider should remind him that pornography harms children and ask him if he wishes to include a pornography filter in his internet package – and to fulfill his order with no further questions.

Similar to the warning on the cigarette package, or the warning of allergens in food, manufacturers cannot pass responsibility on to the consumer alone. They must inform the consumers and afford them the right to choose.

Clearly, I oppose any government tracking or listing of citizens’ preferences. I also do not think that the role of the State is to educate its citizens. However, it is well-known that pornography is very harmful – especially to children. Internet providers should warn their customers of the danger and leave the choice in their hands.

Just as I would not allow a person to open a polluting factory under my home, because there are values that take precedence over freedom to do business, so, too, personal freedom to access pornographic content must be set in the right place on the values continuum.

The infringement of this proposal on the freedom to watch pornographic content is minimal (if it exists) and is certainly justified relative to the severity of the damage that it does to almost all children in the modern world.