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Australian Censorship 
Protestors gather May 29 in Sydney to protest Australia's new Internet censorship law.
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| Compiled By GayToday
Australians held a rally May 29 to protest internet censorship. The Federal Government's internet censorship Bill passed through the Senate last week with the support of Senators Harradine and Colston. Upheld by Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, the Bill is unparalleled in the Western world -- and more authoritarian than that of Malaysia or Singapore. It treats the Internet like television and totally ignores civil liberties.
The Select Committee invited organizations wishing to express their views to lodge written submissions. The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, among other groups, made its anti-censorship perspectives known. The GLRL pointed out that the proposed censorship ostensibly aimed at pornography and other 'offensive' material, will result in the blocking of many gay and lesbian websites as well as preventing access to vital health information related to HIV/AIDS and breast cancer. The GLRL's May 29 rally was followed by a march on Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification and the Australian Broadcasting Authority. Earlier, the Australian Democrats had issued a minority report to the Senate Select Committee for Information Technologies. The report was highly critical of the Government's Internet censorship proposals in the form of the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Bill 1999. "The Australian Democrats understand and support legitimate public concerns about Internet content. We certainly do not advocate unsuitable Internet material being available to minors. Unfortunately, this Bill is not an appropriate way to address these concerns," said Senator Stott Despoja. "We strongly oppose the restriction of access to material by adults which would generally be acceptable to reasonable adults. In particular we are concerned about a censorship regime in which material legal in one medium would be made illegal in another.
"The proposal to block overseas content through the use of proxies is a major concern. Evidence to the Senate Committee about blocking technologies was overwhelmingly critical. Technical experts identified serious performance concerns and indicated that numerous techniques could be used to circumvent these technologies. "Internet service providers gave evidence that the costs of implementing blocking would be likely to have a dramatic impact on the Internet industry. Content control is also likely to have a dramatic impact on the growth of the Internet economy in Australia. "All use of blocking technologies needs to be examined carefully. The Australian Democrats believe that regulation is required to ensure that the operations of these technologies are transparent. Content control in a liberal democracy must be open and accountable. We should ensure that the value systems and the decisions made in blocking are explicit. "It is unfortunate that the Government did not take advantage of the Committee process to better inform themselves of the issues surrounding Internet censorship. We have been subjected to a barrage of misleading media releases from the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. In particular, the Australian Democrats say they regret the sensationalism used by the Government to smear critics of the proposed legislation. "The Australian Democrats believe that this Bill was prepared with undue haste and that consideration should be given to alternative proposals based on education and empowerment of users, and on an understanding of the responsibility of those supervising Internet use by young people,"concluded Senator Stott Despoja. |
Senator Stott Despoja 
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