Iceland Could Ban Internet Porn

Iceland is looking to narrow down the definition of pornography—from Potter Stewart’s “I know it when I see it.”—as the government has begun drafting a proposal that would ban pornography on the Internet in what they say is an effort to protect children from violent imagery. Lawmakers insist they are not looking to censor anything and will define pornography only as material with violent or degrading content. “When a 12-year-old types ‘porn’ into Google, he or she is not going to find photos of naked women out on a country field, but very hardcore and brutal violence,” said Halla Gunnarsdottir, political adviser to the interior minister. Pornography is already banned in Iceland, but since it isn’t defined, it is not largely enforced.