EFA responds to Senator Conroy (updated)
Update : The Minister followed up his attacks today, see below. During yesterday’s Question Time, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy again faced questions about the Rudd Government’s highly unpopular push to introduce mandatory, nationwide internet censorship. In his answer, the Minister accused this organisation of misleading the public and international organisations. We relish the opportunity to respond […]
Oz Internet Censorship gets noticed in China
Kevin Rudd’s plans to crack down on Internet content appear to have drawn the attention of no less than the Chinese Government. The website of the State Council Information Office recently featured an article (Google translation here) on Rudd’s endorsement of an “online ombudsman” to deal with inappropriate Internet content and discusses the upcoming mandatory […]
Government: Don't feed the trolls
There are jerks on the internet. Given how many jerks there are off the internet, this shouldn’t surprise anyone. (I’m willing to bet that the first cave painting was barely dry before a jerk came along and drew an oversized penis on one of the animals.) Nevertheless, the offensive defacement last week of two Facebook […]
Crackdown on Internet racism ill-thought out
If you’re a politician, and something nasty is brought to your attention, what do you do? The best and sometimes only tool in your toolbox is the one you reach for. The tool is this: to pass a law banning it. Therefore, although it’s always discouraging, a story like this one, is far from unusual or surprising. “Laws to […]
Vigilantism is bad for the cause
Internet vigilante group Anonymous have stepped up their campaign against the Rudd Government and its Internet censorship scheme today. “Operation Titstorm” began with denial of service attacks against various Government websites including that of the Prime Minister. EFA naturally condemns these attacks – not only are they illegal, but they damage the cause by playing […]