Can the internet be fully regulated?

Should Ofcom regulate?
The idea of regulating the internet is controversial but Derek Wyatt MP, who gave the main speech at the forum, said he is “beginning to think” it can be done. He even went on to suggest who might be responsible: the existing communications regulator, Ofcom.

He acknowledged the problem of securing international co-operation, particularly in America, but suggested that it could be achieved by putting the issue to the ballot in individual states. “We can at least make a start,” he concluded.

When asked if it could take on such a task, Ofcom’s Jeremy Olivier said “were Ofcom be given such a task we would undoubtedly embrace it”. But he also warned “the internet isn’t a service or something that lends itself to taming”.

Can Ofcom regulate?
Parliament could, should it choose, order Ofcom to regulate the internet – but could the organisation actually do so?

Mr Olivier agreed that “access to illegal material poses less of a challenge” as “we don’t want to manage access, we want to restrict everyone’s access”.

But he added that “the position gets more complicated when talking about content that is legal but inappropriate for some”. He went on to explain that, although Ofcom is able to effectively regulate the material shown to children on television, doing so on the internet is far more difficult.

Anyone wishing to transmit television broadcasts in the UK needs a licence. This licence binds them to a set of rules that dictate what is, and is not, acceptable. In the UK this includes the rule that any programming suitable only for adults must be broadcast after the 9pm ‘watershed’. EU legislation effectively guarantees that any television broadcasts anywhere in Europe are licensed in this manner.