No Internet Censorship

Our Government has taken a legitimate public concern - the need to protect kids from some of the worst stuff they can see on the internet - and used it as an excuse for a wasteful, secretive censorship program that would fail to block most adult content.

The secret national blacklist of websites is not only an invitation for government abuse: legitimate, legal businesses have found themselves on it with no recourse or ability to challenge. The blacklist works only on complaints made to the Government, so it is subjective, incomplete, and will not block the vast majority of content that parents might want blocked.

So this entire, expensive exercise does nothing to protect children, misleads parents by telling them that it will protect their children, undermines our freedom and sets a dangerous precedent for secretive government intervention and censorship in the future.

It is our responsibility, as Australian Democrats, to forge and promote an alternative policy that will provide parents with the education and resources they need to protect their children, and not impact the freedom of other Australians.

Since launching this campaign, we have realised there are many problems underlying this issue that need to be dealt with.

We have broadened the brief to investigate the possibility of a bigger legislative change to deal with the current surface level issue of the proposed internet censorship and the deeper problem of the lack of appropriate legislative framework for the industry.

This may include:

• Removing the internet and related new media from the Broadcast Services Act and implementing a new legislative framework for the internet and related new media which takes into account the different roles of ISPs, web hosting resellers, domain name owners, third party content providers, user generated content space providers and other users and stakeholders - as well as the unique challenges presented by internet technology and content.
• Revising the classification standards to a single standard that is non-media specific, ideally resolving the inequities between the 3 different standards plus industry defined standards that currently exist, as well as allow for coverage when new forms of media are developed without need to develop new classification standards.
• A cyber-safety program involving community awareness and education initiatives and easily accessible tools and support for those who want to filter their internet service.

By providing a framework that is actually designed for the internet, and by providing consistency across mediums (particularly as content becomes increasingly replicated on multiple mediums), we believe it may be possible to achieve a resolution that delivers a safer internet experience for children without compromising the freedoms of others.