WTO could challenge Internet censorship

Internet censorship is open to challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) as it can restrict trade in online services, a forthcoming study argues. A censorship case at the WTO could raise sovereignty issues, given the clear right of member states to restrict trade on moral grounds - for example, by blocking access to child pornography websites.

The study could hold implications for the Australian government, which is planning to introduce a national web filter against "unwanted material."

But a WTO ruling could set limits on blanket censorship and compel states instead to use more selective filtering, according to the study, to be published this...