A Huddersfield hospital patient is calling for the BNP website to be banned from bedside computer terminals over claims its content is too extremist.
The patient, from Newsome, says she was appalled during a recent stay at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary to find she was restricted from viewing the video website YouTube, but could log on to the homepage of the right-wing British National Party.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, said the decision to ban some sites was “hypocritical”.
She said: “I couldn’t believe they had blocked something as entertaining as YouTube but you could still get on something as extreme as the BNP website. Yes it is political, but some of its views are too extremist. I was shocked and disgusted. ”
The service, run by Patientline, offers bedside facilities to patients including television, telephone and internet access. Today a spokesman confirmed the restriction on YouTube was for purely technical reasons.
A spokesman said: “Patientline provides hospital patients with some of the entertainment and communication services they would enjoy in their own home, and this includes internet access. While Patientline does not censor websites, those sites which feature inappropriate material are restricted, as this is a legal requirement. Websites that require a large bandwidth, for example YouTube, are not available on bedside consoles simply because these would slow down the service for other users.”
Heckmondwike’s BNP councillor David Exley said banning political sites defeated the whole democratic process.
He said: “People should be given the right to make their own minds up. Whether they like it or not, it is a legitimate party website. People perceive it to have extreme views, but if it did, it would be banned. This is just daft and narrow-minded. People should be allowed to look at what all political parties have to offer.”
Huddersfield Daily Examiner
March 27, 2008
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Heckmondwike’s BNP councillor David Exley said banning political sites defeated the whole democratic process.
The BNP have a whole list of political parties and other organisations that BNP members are not allowed to be members of. If David Exley is so concerned about the democratic process being undermined, then he should first address this issue. However, I doubt that he will.
"While Patientline does not censor websites, those sites which feature inappropriate material are restricted, as this is a legal requirement. Websites that require a large bandwidth, for example YouTube, are not available on bedside consoles simply because these would slow down the service for other users.”"
The issue here is why patients have to pay for this bloody awful restricted and overpriced service when they're ill. Large bandwidth is irrelevant - if the customer is paying Patientline's extortionate prices, they're entitled to all the bandwidth they can eat.
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