Is Australia the Next Saudi Arabia?
By Curt on Jan 10, 2008 in Free speech, Australia, Anti-Free Speech Laws, Censorship
According to OpenNet Initiative, Australia has taken another, most more drastic step to censor the Internet for the whole country.
The Australian Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy announced on December 31 2007 that mandatory filtering of the Internet would be instituted there. This announcement follows the Rudd government’s plan to provide a “clean feed internet service for all homes” that was unveiled prior to the fall 2007 elections.
As in China, a great deal of the responsibility for censoring the Internet would be laid on the doorstep of the country’s ISPs but, as in Saudi Arabia, the pretext for this restraint is “protecting” the public against pornography. ONI notes that anyone who wished to see adult content would have to opt out of the system, thereby drawing attention to themselves. Considering the bugginess of filtering software, not to mention the vicious joy of the kind of person who believes they know what’s best for others, it doesn’t take much to imagine just what kind of detritus would be caught up in this sort of filtering regimen. If the Kingdom is any indication, get ready for an Australian Internet without women’s health information and online swim suit catalogs.
Another issue is the efficiency of the country’s Internet connections once national filtering becomes a reality. Considering how important electronic connections are to the global economy, there’s no way it won’t have an effect on the average Aussie’s pocketbook.
