The ALP government’s pre-election policy requiring all Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) to implement a mandatory Internet filtering/blocking system has been reaffirmed by the Minister for Communications, Senator Conroy. This policy was first announced in March 2006 by Kim Beazley (then Leader of the Federal Opposition). EFA today attacked the government plan as onerous, ineffective, technically inept, and an affront to civil liberties. While EFA supports measures to provide filtering software to homes where it is requested, and to educate parents on monitoring their children’s online activities, we firmly believe that ISP based filtering will not make the Internet safe for children, and may even cause harm. If parents are deceived into believing that a ‘filtered’ Internet service is safe for children, they will be less likely to take sensible precautions such as supervising their children while they use the Internet.
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