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Proposed
Internet Censorship
Internet
Censorship
Internet
censorship comes in many forms.
Cuba and North Korea
have some of the most extreme; neither the present level of
Australian
censorship nor the proposed mandatory filtering by the Australian
Government comes anywhere close to this level of censorship.
At
present the government can ban specific sites on the internet, and
there is some requirement for internet service providers to not
allow
illegal content. Actual
banning is mainly done after complaints
The proposed censorship would be
in the form of mandatory filters.
There would be an opt out provision
which would allow access to a wider range of sites, but still not
to
all. That is there would
be a choice of the level of
censorship.
I have no doubt that the
present government is totally well intentioned in this for they are all Honourable Men and women. However, the
possibility exists for the misuse of this by
future governments. I am
certainly not suggesting that Kevin Rudd or
any of his ministers would do anything wrong, for they are all Honourable
Men and women.
However,
looking at governments of other places in the past, I can see
plenty of
instances where governments have made good intentioned laws which
have
reflected the views of the government or the leader but which other
well intentioned people might not agree with. For example, in the
1930's the German Leader made the keeping of Goldfish in bowls illegal.
The Leader at the time was a vegetarian teetotaller who loved
animals.
While not suggesting that the Leader was in anyway malicious, for
he
was an Honourable Man, he tried to enforce views not
shared by everyone.
With the Australian
Government filter, would it, for example, filter out my sets of pictures
entitled Naked Ladies and More Naked Ladies, or disallow my Video of Naked Ladies.
I would ague that these are artistic, humorous and informative, and
not
in anyway pornographic, but would our beloved leader agree?
I am
sure our present leaders would not do anything as extreme as
banning
the keeping of Goldfish in bowls, but what about future leaders? The
legal framework of censorship would be much easier to change from a
reasonably harmless thing to an instrument of repression.
Despite
some relaxation recently, the Chinese Government attempts to
control
the access to unfettered information the internet potentially
allows.
Governments want to stay in power, and internet censorship is one
of
the tools used by some regimes.
Not of course that I am suggesting that
our present leaders would either do this, or try to impose its
views on
everyone, for sure they are all Honourable Men and Women.
I leave you with the words of Robert H. Jackson, U.S. Judge
"It
is not the function of Government to keep the citizen from falling
into
error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government
from
falling into error."
Steve Challis
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Iran Censors The Internet
Germany in 1930's
Lend Me your Ears
US Judge
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Cuba has extreme
internet censorship
They are all Honourable Men and Women
View from inside The Forbidden City, looking out onto Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Robert Houghwout Jackson Leads the US prosecuting team at the Nuremburg Trials.
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