The Free Internet initiative has started, support from both users and enterprises is welcome

Major Internet organizations have signed the initiative, which aims to draw attention to the consequences that will be brought by the approval of the Gambling Act — censorship and limited access to the Internet. The initiative The Censor is Coming responds to the government bill on gambling, which will authorize officials of the Ministry of Finance to determine which websites are to be blocked by Internet service providers. The law has already passed the Chamber of Deputies and on May 25 it will be voted by the Senate.

Prague, May 16, 2016 – Major Internet organizations have signed the initiative, which aims to draw attention to the consequences that will be brought by the approval of the Gambling Act — censorship and limited access to the Internet. The initiative The Censor is Coming responds to the government bill on gambling, which will authorize officials of the Ministry of Finance to determine which websites are to be blocked by Internet service providers. The law has already passed the Chamber of Deputies and on May 25 it will be voted by the Senate.

"The goal of our initiative is to draw attention to the problems and consequences the law will bring if approved, and to show that Internet users in the Czech Republic are concerned about this issue. There is also a poll available on the website of the initiative. I would like to invite everyone to participate in it and to express their opinion on the potential censorship and higher prices of the Internet," says Ondřej Filip, CEO of CZ.NIC, the initiator of the campaign. "We are pleased that a number of major companies and organizations have already joined us and we believe that we will hear from others who do not like the law, disagree with it and know what to expect from its approval. I want to thank in advance everyone who joins our common activity for their support."

Should the bill in its current version be approved on May 25 by the Senate and then signed by the President, starting next year, all Internet providers in the Czech Republic will be obliged to block access to websites on the list created and maintained by the Ministry of Finance.

"Our association has long been committed to the expansion of the Internet in this country. Therefore, it is unacceptable for us that there should be something that reduces this development. The law may also bring higher connection fees, and it will have an impact on both end users and those who take care of expansion of the Internet. I would like to appeal to everyone who can reach out to their senators to do so as soon as possible. From the perspective of development and accessibility of the Internet and the freedom associated with it, this law will not do any good," says Miloslav Sova from the association Internet pro všechny, which is one of the organizations supporting the initiative for rejection of the law restricting the freedom of the Internet. "As they say, the more one has the more one wants. In this case, after one list of undesirable websites, more such lists may appear over time. Such an outcome would take us away from the Western democracies to countries where censorship is a matter of course."

On the website, in addition to the warning note about the consequences of the law you can find a poll, and links to the law itself, as well as to articles and TV reports on the topic. There is also an e-mail address proticenzure@nic.cz, to which representatives of organizations that wish to join the initiative can send their requests. You can also send your own logo. For Internet users, there is also a link to the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/prichazicenzor and the Twitter account @prichazicenzor, where you can join the initiative.