Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) today welcomed widespread opposition to Internet censorship proposals by the government.
“The forthcoming protests by the Digital Liberty Coalition and the petition by GetUp! show the depth of community disagreement with the government on this issue”, said EFA spokesperson Danny Yee.
The proposed censorship system would target web material that would be legal in other media. “Australians are unhappy with existing censorship of computer games and films. The last thing they want is even more stringent censorship of online content.”
A mandatory blacklist of 1,300 or 10,000 web pages would do almost nothing to protect children from inappropriate content. “Australians are prepared to take responsibility for protecting their own children from inappropriate content, using their own choice of filtering software as necessary. They recognize government involvement as ineffective and paternalistic.”
EFA has been campaigning against Internet censorship since its creation in 1994. “Australian governments have been pushing various Net censorship proposals since 1995, but most Australians now use and are familiar with the Internet, which makes it harder for them to push through ineffective laws that interfere with personal liberties.”
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Below is:
– Background information
– Contact details for media
Background:
* Digital Liberty Coalition protests on December 13th
– http://nocensorship.info/main/?p=366
* GetUp! petition against Net censorship
– http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet/442
* EFA’s No Clean Feed campaign
– http://nocleanfeed.com/
About EFA:
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. (EFA) is a non-profit national
organisation representing Internet users concerned with on-line
rights and freedoms. EFA was established in 1994, is independent
of government and commerce, and is funded by membership subscriptions
and donations from individuals and organisations with an altruistic
interest in promoting online civil liberties.
Media Contacts:
Mr Nicolas Suzor
EFA Chair
Phone: 0402 427 723
Email: nic at efa.org.au
Mr Colin Jacobs
EFA Vice-Chair
Phone: 0402 631 955
Email: cjacobs at efa.org.au