Net Censorship Seen Liable to WTO Challenge

Censorship of the internet is open to challenge at the World Trade Organisation as it can restrict trade in services delivered online, a forthcoming study says. 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. 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 week by think-tank the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE)