ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of policies and recommendations adopted at the pan-European level covering both the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe levels with regards to illegal and harmful Internet content. It describes pan-European level of development and implementation of blocking policies. Usually, the difference between illegal and harmful content is that the former is criminalized by national laws, while the latter is considered offensive, objectionable, unwanted, or disgusting by some people but is generally not criminalized by national laws. The governance of illegal as well as harmful Internet content may differ from one country to another and variations exist within the pan-European region. The EU addressed the liability of Internet Service Providers with regards to carrying or providing access to illegal content through its E-Commerce Directive. The European Commission cited 'the issue of the speedy re-apparition of websites that have been closed down' as reason for not recommending blocking policy.
