A clerical error carried out by the police resulted in around 8,000 websites, including Google and Facebook blocked, for several hours on the grounds of “containing” child pornography. The blackout also affected Tele Greenland users. Customers of the Siminn ISP who tried to access the affected pages were greeted with the following message:
“The National High Tech Crime Center of the Danish National Police [NITEC], who assist in investigations into crime on the internet, has informed Siminn Denmark A/S, that the internet page which your browser has tried to get in contact with may contain material which could be regarded as child pornography. Upon the request of The National High Tech Crime Center of the Danish National Police, Siminn Denmark A/S has blocked the access to the internet page.”
According to Johnny Lundberg, NITEC chief it began when an employee at the police center decided to move from his own computer to that of a colleague. “He sat down and was about to make an investigation, and in doing so he placed a list of legitimate sites in the wrong folder,” Lundberg explained. “Before becoming aware of the error, two ISPs retrieved the list of sites.” NITEC is responsible for maintaining a list of sites which they want to be made unavailable to Danish citizens.
(Image Source: Main, Featured Image)
