Let's not mistake reality with sugar coating

I heard of the Stalinist Soviet era officials instructing their workers to pave the main roads and any streets coming off it only as far as you could see it from the main road. The idea was visiting dignitaries would matter of fact-ly accept that there were in fact roads throughout all of the Soviet Union. This was of course an illusion, one bearing no resemblance to the truth and in fact used to cover up the stark and barren reality.

This representation of reality in the particular context of a mandatory filter is particularly relevant to the discourse about the filter some how helping the issue of child pornography. My assertion is that this does nothing to stop child pornography, and in fact is spending a large sum of money better used to help the victims of sexual exploitation.

These are issues that need to be addressed through long tail initiatives that lead to real outcomes for those involved. In the current climate of global crisis, which highlights how interconnected culturally, economically and logistically the world is, these issues need to be addressed in their legitimate context.

The legitimate context is two-fold. Firstly it is one of victims, second is perception. Victims are who we should be thinking of. The inherently innocent who are exploited for profit and sex. All and any efforts to reducing the production of child pornography is extremely welcome, including long tail activities such as poverty eradication.

Perception is relating to individuals mediated communication experience. Simply, if the child pornography issue is solved with the filter what possible actions can possibly be put on the agenda that could actually help or eradicate child pornography production itself.

The Government is going down a dangerous path. Mediated technologies are already a platform for extending simulacrums, lets not mix reality with the hyperreal - the issue of child pornography is a human one grounded in the material world. It requires real responses, not ones that gloss over relevant issues; further leading the way to other "reality sculpting".