Swedish investigator considering IP-blocking initiative

Swedish internet service provider (ISP) Bahnhof has revealed that it has been contacted by the investigator hired by the country’s government to look at new gambling laws concerning the possibility of blocking unlicensed gaming websites.

Jon Karlung, chief executive of Bahnhof, said that the company will not take a position “either for or against” the merits of gambling, citing the Swedish government’s attempt to censor the internet as one of his key concerns.

Investigator Haken Hallstedt is due to announce his proposals for new online gambling laws in March 2017.

“We want to strongly warn of action to close parts of the internet that authorities deem objectionable,” said Karlung.

“Today there is no compelling state filtering of the internet in Sweden. To throttle the internet and freedom of communication is obviously the wrong way to go.”

Bahnhof, which hosts the controversial WikiLeaks website, has been involved in various campaigns to preserve freedom in regards to the internet in Sweden.

In 2008, it rejected government demands to block access to file-sharing website Pirate Bay.

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