Promoting And Protecting Digital Rights Since 1994
EFA is an independent non-profit association that relies on membership subscriptions and donations. If you’re concerned about digital rights in Australia, please join or donate today.
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The morality of censorship
Much has been written and said about the Labor Government’s plan to censor Australia’s Internet. The plan, which involves a Government blacklist of web sites that all Australian Internet service providers would be required to block, has been criticised for its ineffectiveness, free speech risks and technical difficulties. However, while there has been some moralising, there has been little serious debate about the filter’s moral implications. The Prime Minister injected…
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Your Say: Gillard won't budge on internet filter
This post is to provide a discussion forum for the article Gillard won’t budge on internet filter published today on the news.com.au website. The artcile is being reposted here so that the public may have an opportunity to reply. Prime Minister Julia Gillard isn’t budging on dropping the unpopular internet filter, saying it is a moral judgment the government needs to make. The coalition and the Greens are unlikely to…
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The future of internet censorship
You probably know that internet censorship is a hot topic. It’s on the rise around the world and has been a big issue here in Australia, where a new push for censorship remains government policy. The internet is such a great enabler of free speech. Why do governments want to censor it? Some of the motivation is understandable. With free speech comes troublesome speech. Even in a democracy such as…
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Your thoughts? "Fast Broadband will be best served by the Market"
In today’s edition of The Australian is an article written by James Massola called Fast broadband best served by market: UN report. Massola quotes from the report by the UN’s Broadband Commission for Digital Development. The report recommends: “a market-led approach facilitated by an enabling policy environment” as the best way to promote the deployment of and use of broadband networks. And it has called for a “technology neutral” mix…
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UPDATE: Anti-Filter Facebook page blocked due to Unclear Name
You may recall our story earlier this week about Gour Lentell’s Anti-filter page Bet we can find 1 million Australians who say NO to the internet filter being blocked from making an update. The only indication as to why this occurred was due to a breech of Facebook Page Terms of Use message made visible to the Page Admin. Lentell has been in contact with EFA this morning with an…
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Anti-filter Facebook Page blocked
A Facebook page against the controversial Mandatory ISP Censorship proposal has been blocked by Facebook. The Page admin, Gour Lentell discovered on Sunday 5 September that his publishing rights to Bet we can find 1 million Australians who say NO to the Internet filter had blocked due to an unverified violation to Pages Terms of Use. The page has over 29,000 members and has a good level of debate and…
Help fight for our digital rights
What We Do
Policy
We actively monitor a number of policy areas and specific issues. The topics below provide a detailed view of EFA’s policy positions.
Copyright
Australia’s copyright laws are outdated, inflexible and not fit for the digital age. As such, EFA is a long-standing supporter of reform of Australia’s Copyright Act.
Privacy & Security
Privacy is fundamentally about consent and control over access to information, and goes hand-in-hand with security. Privacy is a human right.
Censorship
Adults should be able to make their own informed decisions about what content they create and consume.
Encryption
Access to encryption technologies is vital for individuals and groups to be able to safeguard the security and privacy of their information.
Internet Safety
Surveillance is not safety. Safety for whom, against what? This complex problem is more likely to be exacerbated, rather than solved, by measures that allow for unaccountable surveillance and the undermining of communications security.
Surveillance
EFA is committed to ensuring that Australian’s home life is not subject to arbitrary interference.