I found this on Prison Planet (definately not my favorite source for material but every now and then I find a few gems) in regards to the great work
Wikileaks has been doing and yet again, how it is trying to be stopped.
In late 2008, Wikileaks released the secret Internet censorship list for Denmark, together with a press release condemning the practice for lack
of public or judicial oversight. Here’s an extract from the press release.
From the actual press release:
The list has been leaked because cases such as Thailand and Finland demonstrate that once a secret censorship system is established for
pornographic content the same system can rapidly expand to cover other material, including political material, at the worst possible moment — when
government needs reform.
Two days ago Wikileaks released the secret Internet censorship list for Thailand. Of the 1,203 sites censored this year, all have the internally noted
reason of “lese majeste” — criticizing the Royal family. Like Denmark, the Thai censorship system was originally promoted as a mechanism to
prevent the flow of child pornography
So basically, once the government starts censoring sights claiming they contain explicit or inappropriate material.....they don't have to stop there
because THERE IS NO PUBLIC OR JUDICIAL OVERSIGHT.
Uh oh.
And to all you Aussies out there:
The press release and the list itself have now been placed into the secret Australian government blacklist of “Prohibited Online Content”.
The content on the blacklist is illegal to publish or link to in Australia, with fines of up to $11,000 a day for contraventions.
www.prisonplanet.com...
Here is a link to the Wikileaks Censorship List:
wikileaks.org...:_3863_sites_on_censorship_list,_Feb_2008
Obviously child pornography is one thing, yet the slippery slope has begun in regards to the regulation of the internet. One could argue child
pornography (or certain sexual acts, drug use, etc.) is illegal, but so is political dissent or criticisms in many countries (Thailand is a good
example, China...etc)
But by seeing Australia and Finland and Denmark I am beginning to get worried because while our political dissent isn't illegal it is being treated
that way behind our backs and could yet be censored.
Obviously a complete censorship would be impossible, but every little piece of information that we "lose" can just be another piece of the puzzle we
are missing. Most importantly, it is NOT ILLEGAL in these countries and is being handled this way. I find it hard to swallow there is no oversight of
this "blacklisting" process and as far as I can understand, no process by which to take yourself off it.
