Daily Mail Article
PM's policy adviser 'had 59 child porn images on an iPad': Cameron confidant assigned welfare officer by Downing Street as he appears at court
By Chris Greenwood
Published: 09:29 AEST, 4 July 2014 | Updated: 09:29 AEST, 4 July 2014A former adviser to David Cameron accused of possessing indecent images of children is still being supported by Downing Street, a court heard yesterday.Patrick Rock, 63, was assigned a welfare officer by No 10 when his arrest led to his resignation from a role at the heart of Government four months ago.He appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court in London even though no evidence against him was found on British soil.He was held at his sister’s home in the US state of North Carolina.The court was told he had 59 indecent images of children on an iPad. District Judge John Zani ordered Rock, from Fulham, West London, to stand trial at Southwark Crown Court later this month.He was released on bail with a number of conditions, including that he maintain contact with the Downing Street-appointed welfare officer.He was also told to surrender his passport.Rock was arrested in February by the National Crime Agency, but the investigation was made public only when it was revealed by this newspaper.The secrecy remains unexplained.Rock, ex-deputy director of the Downing Street policy unit and a protege of Margaret Thatcher, was one of Mr Cameron’s closest confidants.He worked for Michael Howard when he was Home Secretary in the 1990s and was involved in drawing up government policy on filters designed to block images of child abuse.The crimes are alleged to have taken place between July 31 and August 31 last year.Mr Rock, deputy director of the Downing Street policy unit and a protege of Margaret Thatcher, was one of Mr Cameron’s closest confidantes....... story continued...SOURCE - Daily Mail - here.
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COMMENT
The above article relates to an appearance in court back in February of this year.
The particulars aren't that interesting to me, apart from the NCA involvement and alleged secrecy.
What is of interest to me is this:
... Rock was an adviser ... on internet porn filters, introduced last year to curb children’s ability to access adult content online.
According to the Open Rights Group, the government-backed ISP filters have been overzealous in blocking completely innocuous websites, raising concerns over web censorship. The percentage of sites hosting legal pornographic material online is thought to be close to 4 percent. [rt.com]
How a democratic government even managed to push through restrictive censorship of the internet in the first place is a mystery.
Surely the onus of responsibility should fall entirely on parents, when it comes to blocking access to pornography, and the government should keep their noses right out of it.
On a quick check of Open Rights Group, it looks as though they're not averse to laws -- they want regulation. So if this is an example of a protector of digital freedoms, maybe this is where it has gone pear shaped in the first place.
Why support regulation at all?
The internet shouldn't be a regulated medium -- why kill the beauty of the internet.
