Senator Conroy defends Internet filtering and criticises Chinese censorship

I don't really think it's that much of a contraditction to support a filter of kiddie porn while supporting Freedom of Speech.

Someone has to stand up to China!

Conroy is a hypocrit.

Given the Refused Classification list has many sites on it that are not child porn, and indeed many of them are perfectly legal for Australians to own and view, I find this press release by Stephen Conroy hypocritical in the extreme.

The Refused Classification list had abortion pages in it along with perfectly legal R18+ pornography and the famous dentists site.

The list is secret and the only difference between us and China is that China adds Tibet and Tienanmen Square sites to the filter as well.

Sounds political to me.

Aren't they going to be filtering euthanasia sites and then fining anyone that links to them under this proposed filter? And didn't someone test the system last year by successfully getting an anti-abortion site onto the RC list, and then get a threatened fine for linking to the site?

I don't know, I've always considered those two topics to be of a political nature.

Oz apathy will allow it.

I was on a fetish site last week, I blogged the site saying you guys will not be able to visit this fetish site soon!
Only 2 people Blogged back! The others Blogged about Aus day!! APATHY about censorship, APATHY about privacy...
Welcome to the new Austral-Asia...Union !!...it been on the cards for yrs..no OZ dollar...Oz will be like USA and EU.

Conroy you never cease to amaze people with your bullshite.
Your an abomination to our country.

pot kettle black

Conroys' emphasis that there is no political material in the list is an empty phrase. just because YOUR current administration allegedly has no interest in adding such material to the list that does NOT MEAN future admins will be nearly so honourable.

If you dont want to ditch the policy at the very least install judicial oversight to reduce that risk. an 'independent' third party/organisation to the government is not good enough - Governments of all stripes have shown willingness to salt such 'independent' boards with cronies and sympathisers again and again in political history. I dont expect this board to be any different.

if there is *no* good mechanism - the checks and balances in 'democratic' society - to ensure such political material does not in the future end up on the list, that there be transparency about mechanisms installed (NOT a secret board with a secret list), then there is absolutely NO reason to believe Conroy when he continues to cast himself as the shining knight here to save us all (from the kiddy fiddlers WHO ALREADY ARE UNDER LEGAL SANCTION with the laws and powers enacted for AFP and others to investigate and prosecute).

there is absolutely NO reason to take a chance on this mans word; and especially because he DOES NOT REPRESENT constituents. consistent 90+ percentile opposition figures in public polling AGAINST his proposal clearly shows that he is out of touch with the electorate.

reconnect, then review the policy and ditch it. when bad policy outweighs good, that is the sensible decision. somehow im not holding my breath for any politician to be sensible on this topic though.

Vote Conroy out, pronto.

“Censorship should not be in any way accepted by any company anywhere.”

or "anyone" Mr Conroy. Including every Australian. Listen to Hillary's words very closely.

No one supports this stupid filter. Give up. Stop wasting our feakin money you self serving tool.

Does this mean?

Does this mean that as it is illegal to copy games, movies etc in Australia any website that talks about or shows you how to do so will be blocked? After all, it is instructing you in how to commit a crime.....

Conroy = fail

Conroy is now certified as being the biggest knob-jockey in Australia's history. I wish he'd hurry up and win a Darwin Award.

Internet censorship is the thin edge of the wedge

Internet censoring is the thin edge of the wedge.

Being overseas born and becoming a citizenship 18 years ago, my proudest moment as an Australian was when our then Prime Minister John Howard defended Pauline Hanson's right to free speech. Yes, I don't like what Ms Hanson said, and also what a lot of the Internet today 'says' too, but the principle of free speech is paramount for successful societies to survive and thrive.

It's when we 'block' thoughts and words, that such thoughts and words then become ongoing - and turn into violent actions. Like the Hanson phenomenon, Australians in the main are smart enough to know in the long term exactly what things are really right or wrong and dump them if wrong.

Kiddie porn and the like are not an issue of censorship. It's an issue of morals. Like bing drinking. Or drugs. Or wife beating. (Hey as I write this, http://www.wifebeating.com is still available for purchase!)

Until people (ie. you and me) decide something is wrong, such web sites will continue to thrive - and users will find a way to obtain it (eg. race/hate groups within Facebook). Really, how much can a government stop people from doing wrong? How do citizens start taking responsibility for themselves??

Anyway, it is so easy to trace one's IP address to arrest and jail someone surfing an inappropriate site! I say leave them be, how else can we capture the pedophiles or - more importantly - terrorists? With censorship they will turn to private VPNs and the like and go 'underground', making them harder to be apprehended.

I say forget Internet censorship. Where is our low-cost broadband? Where stand our education, public transport, infrastructure or health care services? Governments worldwide should understand the basics: stop trying to run people's lives and focus on providing services!

...and should resign

It is now clear that Conroy and the farrago of his supporters think that the general public are too stupid to see what they are up to with their plan for secret government censorship.

It's secret because there are big fines for disclosing details; it's government because it will be run by government, or nominees/appointees of the government at the direction of the government; and it's censorship because Conroy has revealed it will be used to ban "inappropriate" content. He has called for "interested parties" to come up with further lists of things they want banned.

The filter idea should be scrapped, and the scheming Conroy should resign or be sacked now.