[Infowarrior] - Australia pushes further Web censorship

[Richard Forno]

Australia pushes further Web censorship

By Jo Best
http://www.news.com/Australia-pushes-further-Web-censorship/2100-1028_3-6209
337.html

Story last modified Fri Sep 21 08:36:38 PDT 2007


A bill introduced this week by Australia's Parliament would give the
Australian federal police the power to control which sites can and cannot be
viewed by Australian Web surfers.

Introduced on Thursday, the bill--titled the Communications Legislation
Amendment (Crime or Terrorism Related Internet Content) Bill 2007--would
empower the federal police to alter the "blacklist" of sites that are
currently prohibited by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The list currently includes pornography and "offensive material." However,
under the amendment, federal police would be able to add other sites to the
list, including content that the AFP Commissioner "has reason to
believe...is crime- or terrorism-related content."

The definition of material that may be liable for censorship includes
Internet content that "encourages, incites or induces," "facilitate(s)" or
"has, or is likely to have, the effect of facilitating" a crime.

Once such content has been identified by the AFP, Internet service providers
may be responsible for blocking their users from accessing it.

According to the government, the legislation is designed to target phishing
and terrorist sites, among other online criminal activity.

"The new arrangements will allow harmful sites to be more quickly added to
software filters," said Eric Abetz, a senator for Tasmania, who introduced
the bill. "Of course the best outcome is for these sites to be taken down
and their hosts prosecuted. But this takes time, particularly as most of
these sites are hosted overseas.

"Rapid blacklisting means that the damage these sites can do can be more
quickly reduced whilst takedown and prosecution processes are pursued,
usually overseas," Abetz said.

Privacy groups have already criticized the legislation as an attack on free
speech.

"This government's extremism has reached new heights today," said the chair
of the Australian Privacy Foundation, Roger Clarke.

"How can a politician claim the right to hold office if they set out to
undermine the critical democratic right of freedom of speech, and blatantly
decline to evaluate the impact of measures put before the Parliament?"

Jo Best of ZDNet Australia reported from Sydney.


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