The freedom of spiritual expression and exchange of spiritual ideas is under attack. The UK has announced internet filters which will automatically filter out websites with 'esoteric material'. Working directly with ISP's and affecting 95% of British internet users, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said these filters will be active 'by the end of the year'. 'Esoteric Material' could mean anything from sites of small spiritual groups, to ones which teach esoteric or spiritual practices or contain information about a wide range of alternative spiritual ideas.
This sinister development is being slipped past public notice as these automatic filters are being headlined as a powerful tool to combat Pornography on the web. UK Prime Minister David Cameron is touting these new policies will 'protect children and their innocence'. But this Trojan Horse has a much larger sweep than just pornography. UK based digital advocacy organization Open Rights Group discussed the coming changes with British ISP's and besides pornography, there are 9 other categories which are automatically blocked which includes 'esoteric material' (and 'web forums'). The filters can be turned off by the user, but they are set to 'ON' automatically upon setup. This uses the popular 'nudge theory' helping to control actions of people and relies on user's tech savvy-ness in order to disable them. The definition of 'esoteric material' is so broad that it can span from meditation to spiritual healing, Chakras and everything in between. And this has now been lumped in with the horrid company of pornography, violence and suicide related sites.
