Internet in Iceland - Censorship

Censorship

Censorship is prohibited by the Icelandic Constitution and there is a strong tradition of protecting freedom of expression that extends to the use of the Internet. However, questions about how best to protect children, fight terrorism, prevent libel, and protect the rights of copyright holders are ongoing in Iceland as they are in much of the world.

The five Nordic countries—Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland—are central players in the European battle between file sharers, rights holders, and Internet service providers (ISPs). While each country determines its own destiny, the presence of the European Union (EU) is felt in all legal controversies and court cases. Iceland, while not a member of the EU, is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and has agreed to enact legislation similar to that passed in the EU in areas such as consumer protection and business law.

Internet service providers in Iceland use filters to block Web sites distributing child pornography. Iceland's ISPs in cooperation with Barnaheill—Save the Children Iceland participate in the International Association of Internet Hotlines (INHOPE) project. Suspicious links are reported by organizations and the general public and passed on to relevant authorities for verification.

On 10 June 2009 the two major ISPs in Iceland, Vodafone Iceland and Síminn at the behest of SAFT (Save the Children Iceland) and other interest groups instated a null route on the website ringulreid.org, making it inaccessible to most commercial Internet users in Iceland. Other members of the Reykjavik Internet Exchange didn't institute the null route, but both Vodafone and Síminn blocked it at their Icelandic routers.

The ringulreid.org domain subsequently expired and the site was taken down by its operator. But a similar site slembingur.org sprang up to replace it.

Both Vodafone Iceland and Síminn updated their blocks to null route 83.99.152.251, the IP address slembingur.org resolves to.