The decision was reportedly made in April after extremist material was found on four Playstation consoles at a secure prison in Nyborg. As from Saturday, inmates will no longer have access to game consoles.
Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported that he secure network SK-net, giving prisoners in some facilities online access, has been closed by the prison regulator. Citing security, the agency has shut down the online network, also halting online study programmes and exams.
Although the consoles were not directly connected to the Internet, jihadist got hold of them via USB drives.
Sadly, all inmates will be affected, said Frederik Jepsen, a board member with charity Landsforeningen Krim, which offers legal support to prisoners in Denmark.
“Individual assessments of prisoners are required to assess whether the individual in question is suitable for access to the SK-net,” he told Jyllands-Posten, suggesting that Danes would be less receptive to jihadist material.
Lars Rau Brysting, head of security with Kriminalforsorgen, told Jyllands-Posten that the agency had been mulling whether to continue using the SK-net for al while already, but the discoveries on the Playstations required that immediate action be taken.
Brysting said it would be impossible for prison officers to continuously check consoles for extremist material. “Things can be saved onto the consoles and our personnel have no means of searching them properly,” he told The Copenhagen Post newspaper.