As an employee of the Norwegian government, Elisabeth Staksrud's job title used to be official film censor.
Now, the 30-year-old social scientist has an additional job description: project coordinator for the SAFT programme, a government-managed Internet project funded by the European Commission. SAFT, which stands for Safety Awareness Facts and Tools, is something of an experiment in Internet self-regulation and comes as European national governments and the commission itself are weighing whether additional laws are necessary.
Staksrud is no stranger to this idea -- she gave her graduate thesis at the University of Oslo the provocative title of "How to censor the Internet". The thesis, which analysed Singapore's ban on scores of overseas Web sites that have controversial political or sexual content, concluded that "Singapore's model can be used by other nations that aim to regulate the information flow on the Internet."
SAFT's stated purpose is "raising awareness on the positive potential and the dangers of the Internet to youths and kids." It also serves as a kind of liaison between technology firms, Internet service providers and European governments.
After a recent conference in Stockholm, CNET News.com spoke with Skaksrud about censorship, children and legislation.
Q: You're a film censor. But you say you believe in free speech on the Internet. How do you reconcile that?
A: That's just part of my job. Giving age limits is about giving advice to parents. We have this parent guardian rule that says younger people can go to certain movies -- but only if they're accompanied by an adult.
You're okay with being called a censor?
Yes. We can ban movies. We haven't done it for mainstream movies for years. If someone is going to show it in a movie theatre, we have to see it first. It's a cool job, huh? Surf on the Internet and screen movies before they're shown.
What's your biggest worry about children and the Internet?
Hysterical parents.
