German Government Tries To Censor Publication Of Its List Of Censored Websites

A few weeks ago, an anonymous internet user was able to acquire and subsequently extract a website blacklist used by Germany's Federal Department of Media Harmful to Young Children (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien [BPjM]).

With its secret list exposed, the German government has gone after Neocities in a belated attempt to keep its no-longer-secret list secret. Neocities has complied, but not without protest.

The ultimate stupidity of this debacle is the fact that the German government thinks it can undo what's been done. By acting in this fashion, it's only drawn more attention to the list it wants to remain a secret. Worse, it's drawn more attention to the blog post highlighting the many failures of the list itself.