On the 15th of December, Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, announced that the Federal Government plans to move ahead with mandatory Internet Service Provider (ISP) level filtering of all Internet connections, a sort of New Years present to the citizens of Australia. The resolution being it will protect us from evil and let the government decide what is good for us!
We feel that this is a terrible decision which has no potential advantages and will cause many problems, namely:
- the internet filter has been proven ineffective by a study commissioned by the Rudd Government itself
- this will lead to a false sense of security among parents who will incorrectly think that their child is protected
- the censorship will not be transparent and there is a dangerous potential for it to be continually expanded and exploited
- already sites on a leaked blacklist include those that discuss controversial, but not illegal issues such as anorexia
- the filter will slow down internet speed Australia wide - already our intenet speed is among the slowest for first world countries
- this will have a negative impact on businesses and our economy
- other countries that filter the internet include China, Iran and North Korea - these countries are not exactly considered highly in terms of human rights. do we really want to join that club?
To find out more, including how you can take action to prevent this, visit the Australian Web Industry Association's website:
AWIA's Official Stance - Keep Your Filter off Our Internet | www.keepyourfilteroffourinternet.com
AWIA's Guide on How to Take Action | www.keepyourfilteroffourinternet.com/take-action
Electronic Frontiers Australia - Mandatory Internet Filtering Fact Sheets | www.efa.org.au/mandatory-internet-filtering-fact-sheets