Topic: Censorship of the Internet
Country: Denmark
Delegate Name: Emma Cucci
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Denmark position papers GLIMUN 2010 committees
Every moment, it seems that the world is becoming more tech-savvy; The Kingdom of Denmark is no exception. To begin, some background information of the kingdom is that it is ruled under a Constitutional Monarchy, the Head of State being a Liberal named Queen Margrethe II. It is about 90.9% Danes; the rest of the population is made up of immigrants. The primary language is danish and the religion is about 90% Protestant-Christian. Denmark has a large population of 5,511,451 people. Of this number, 2,062,000 people use landline telephones, and people use cellular phones. Other media includes broadcast, such as television. Denmark has several nationwide radio and tv stations. On the internet, there are about 4,145,000 internet hosts, while there are 4,579,00 internet users. This shows that a clear majority of people are very technologically involved; internet is very important to the people and businesses of Denmark.
The internet was first introduced in 1999 and started with very little coverage; however, now it spans across the nation to give 97% of the country access to the internet, although only 86% of people take advantage of it. Denmark, along with the Netherlands, is ranked first for fasted broadband connection. The issue of internet censorship takes a large toll on the country. Denmark’s constitution clearly states “Any person shall be at liberty to publish his ideas in print, in writing, and in speech, subject to his being help responsible in a court of law. Censorship and other preventative measures shall never again be introduced.” There are no banned books in Denmark, but there are a few hate speech and libel laws that are in effect. The only internet sites that have caused some problems in Denmark are video and music sharing websites such as AllOfMP3 and The Pirate Bay; these sites aren’t technically blocked by the government, but they are apart of a “filtering” system so that it does not violate any laws. Even with the filters, these sites are easily accessed by everyone, simply by switching servers; therefore, these blocks are not strictly enforced. The original intention of any bans in the first place was to battle child pornography.
In order to solve this dilemma, Denmark would like all of the countries of similar ideals, (ie: Germany, Sweden, France) to create a resolution that calls for bans only on websites where harmful or illegal activities occur. Other than those few specific websites, however, everything else, as long as they do not violate any pre-existing laws, would be allowed. This is because following a country’s constitution is essential to the moral fibers and structure of any nation, and should not be tampered with unless for drastic measures. All of Denmark’s allies would essentially agree with Denmark’s take on this issue; therefore, other countries shaping its ideals is a moot point. Solutions that are not adequate include the communist countries’ absolute ban on internet websites; this gives absolutely no freedom to the countries’ citizens. Therefore, Denmark’s main goal would be to stop countries with strict censorship from passing. Contrary to that, there also should not be absolute free reign of the internet. Denmark believes that issues of major gravity such as child porn and illegal music downloading websites need to be regulated on the internet.
In addition, some allies of Denmark include every country in the European Union and NATO. Specifically those who are involved in our importing and exporting: Germany, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, China, UK.
