Internet Censorship
The flawed nature of Kevin Rudd’s policy of internet censorship is becoming obvious (Sydney Morning Herald).
While the ruling party says that the internet censorship policy is about blocking material that nearly everyone would also object to, there is nothing stopping the definition of ‘prohibited content’ from expanding in the future. Once the principle of the state being the final authority on ‘approved content’, there can be no argument over the degree on control. Will you be next on the black list?
Filtering the internet is a technical disaster. Can you imagine examining every single web page in existence? There is far too much content to be given a rating, and new websites are starting up all the time. Filtering content in real time can slow down the internet for everyone, and would block legitimate sites.
A more effective method of protecting children from unwanted content is for each family to control use of the internet in their own home. This can include placing the computer in a high traffic area, controlling traffic through routers, or implementing commercially available filtering applications for individual computers.
Moral reform cannot be achieved through the violence of the state, but only through the voluntary reflection and change of the individual person.
Electronic Frontiers Australia is running the No Clean Feed campaign to abolish this policy. I urge you all to get involved to preserve our freedom on the internet.
© Danny Haynes
