Controversial plans by Iceland 's government to try to limit access to pornography online and in print to protect children have sparked international opposition . Free speech campaigners , activists and academics are among the 40 individuals and groups from some 20 countries who 've signed an open letter urging Icelandic Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson to drop the proposal . The letter was coordinated and published online Thursday by the International Modern Media Institute , an Icelandic civil society think tank headed by lawmaker and ex-Wikileaks spokeswoman Birgitta Jonsdottir . It claims the proposal has `` already jeopardized longstanding efforts to prevent or abolish censorship in totalitarian regimes and protect civil liberties and human rights worldwide . '' Read more : In the tech world , porn quietly leads the way . `` Iceland is a liberal democratic state which should not serve as a role model for Internet censorship , '' the letter said . Restricting people 's access to information online in order to shape their views is as much censorship as the repression of free speech , it said , drawing a comparison with the governments of Iran , North Korea and China . The technology used by Iceland to restrict access to online pornography would be no different from that used by totalitarian regimes , the letter said , and would require automatic surveillance of all telecommunications . Read more : Does Twitter 's Vine have a porn problem ? The letter also warns that blocking pornographic content online `` may create demand for an underground porn industry , unregulated and most certainly affiliated with other illegal activities , '' such as has been seen in efforts to ban alcohol or illegal drugs . Iceland 's laws already ban the making and distribution of pornography but were written before the advent of the Internet , which has made access much easier . Read more : Child pornography ushers Internet censorship into Australia . Halla Gunnarsdottir , an adviser to the interior minister , told the UK 's Guardian newspaper that the government 's goal is not censoring sex but restricting access to violent pornography . Research has shown that children in Iceland are on average 11 years old when they 're first exposed to pornography , she said , with some traumatized by it and others later seeking to re-enact violent acts they have seen . The government 's plans include tightening the current legal definition of pornography to differentiate between sex and violent or degrading material , she told the newspaper . But the activists ' letter argues that `` the Internet is not the source of violence , it is merely a medium by which violence is made apparent . '' App stores : Gatekeepers , or censors of the mobile Web ? If Iceland 's government wants to protect children from learning about sex on the Internet , it should focus on improving sex education in homes and schools , it said . Among the U.S. signatories to the letter are the Electronic Frontier Foundation , the Center for Civic Media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Freedom of the Press Foundation . Other signatories hail from as far afield as Egypt , Jordan , Guatemala , India , Germany and the United Kingdom . Iceland , a nation of nearly 320,000 people , is better known for its efforts to promote free speech and transparency than for any censorship . Its parliament in 2010 backed a proposal drafted by the International Modern Media Institute for the adoption of new laws to strengthen freedom of expression .
40 individuals and 20 groups sign an open letter to Iceland 's interior minister . They oppose government action to try to block access to online pornography . The government wants action to prevent children being exposed to violent porn . Iceland ` ` should not serve as a role model for Internet censorship , '' the letter says .