Discourse networks on state-mandated access blocking in Germany and France
Abstract
Purpose
The paper iaims to investigate the evolution of discourses, claims and actor positions during the German and French examination of legislation aimed at introducing state-mandated website blocking measures of sexual child images (often referred to as “child pornography”).
Design/methodology/approach
The focus lies on the opportunities and difficulties for opponents of internet blocking measures to form discourse coalitions that challenge the frames articulated and normalised by power elites. While critics of mandatory internet blocking were ignored at the outset of the debate, their frames have eventually been adopted and debated by proponents of internet blocking in Germany.
Findings
Activists successfully criticised the effectiveness of introducing internet blocking measures, which led to the final abandonment of the bill. In France, the debate remained largely confined to online media, where critics voiced their opposition but did not succeed in influencing the broader policy agenda, which was primarily concerned with security issues. Both cases offer important insights for the study of internet filtering and blocking from a comparative perspective.
Originality/value
Both cases offer important insights for the study of internet filtering and blocking from a comparative perspective.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Ian Brown, Sandra Gonzáles-Bailon and Joss Wright for helpful comments and advice on this research, as well as the Wiener-Anspach Foundation for supporting the author's stay at the Oxford Internet Institute. Received 20 March 2013 Revised 27 June 2013 Accepted 11 July 2013
Citation
Breindl, Y. (2013), "Discourse networks on state-mandated access blocking in Germany and France", info, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 42-62. https://doi.org/10.1108/info-03-2013-0011
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited