The Australian Federal Government is investigating the option to regulate Internet Service Providers to censor the Internet for all Australians in a bit to block 'harmful and inappropriate' content not only for children, but for all internet users in Australia.
Even with my limited understanding of the internet, I think this would be impossible to achieve at 100% efficiency. To filter all content with 'producers' cleverly naming/grouping their 'harmful or inappropriate' content to avoid the filters doesn't sound to difficult. Also with 'hackers' willingness to break code I think that the filter/s would soon be obsolete and the constant need to keep on top of this would surely prove costly in time and money.
Ideally censorship of the internet for children should come from their parents, but I know that with broken families, working families etc etc this does not always happen, but I don't believe it is something that should be taken on by our government. What next...... censoring our mail that comes in via Australia Post - see concerns from the group "No Clean Feed" on
I believe that we need to save free speech and the internet for our children, not save our children from it. Thats where good parenting should prevail (I know I live in a Utopia!). I know I don't want my children to be NARROW MINDED because they do not have the ability to grasp/search a worldly TRUE view of a topic.
Censorship's place in a democracy: Does it have a place? Do we want to model out internet use on the way China does? Chinese government can and have just pull(ed) the plug on the entire internet for the chinese people when they deem something available/reported on the internet is not appropriate or damming to themselves! Control of the people, instead of people controlling their own lives. I realize that to various degrees all governments, through propaganda etc etc ETC, control us, but this is something we can recognize and protest.
I agree completely!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I think it should be able to censor is kiddie porn sites etc.. but this is near on impossible.
It has no place is a democratic society! There should be a referendom about this type of bs.