Inmates at Beveren Prison in Antwerp are allowed use the Internet from their cells, as part of a controversial prison-reform program called PrisonCloud. They also would be able to download any types of movies including adult films.
Each cell is equipped with a TV monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset and a special piece of hardware connected to a server. Each prisoner also has a USB stick, a username, and password. They can also use the system to communicate with prison staff and request court records.
However, they are blocked from certain sites including Facebook.
"Inmates can go to a website where they can see what jobs are offered and they can say to themselves, 'When I go out, I can work in construction or whatever,' Adriaenssen said.
Some criminal justice experts argue that allowing prisoners Internet access poses too many risks. It’s also being attacked from a moral standpoint. For example, inmates imprisoned for sexually assaulting children can watch kids on TV.
"This is going to sound direct but if an inmate is here for sexually abusing children," Adrianessen says, "we're not going to say that he can't watch children's programmes on the TV. If you say, 'You're a murderer so you can't watch telly anymore because it's too violent for you,' that's short-sighted.’”
