posted on Dec, 15 2009 @ 07:07 PM
The government said Tuesday it will introduce legislation next year for the filter system to help protect Australians, especially children, from
harmful material on the Internet. Critics say it will not prevent determined users from sharing such content, and could lead to unwarranted censorship
by overzealous officials.
This is the bane and boon of the topic. Furthermore, there are multiple topics in this event to argue.
As usual
the children are used as the proverbial damsels in distress that need to be saved and TPTB are stepping in to do the job. Limiting
what kids can get access to on the internet, radio and television is really the job of the parents.
Accompanying this 'filtering' is the concern that unwarranted material may be censored. This could allow governments to censor sites that try to
convey truth to the masses. If caught they could claim it was a program fault of the 'filtering' program. This type of censorship was tried before
and failed to function properly.
"I tried to get on ATS but it kept telling me it is a blocked site..."
In the United States, Pennsylvania briefly imposed requirements for service providers to block child pornography sites, but a federal court struck
down the law because the filters also blocked legitimate sites.
Add to that that this system fails to really take care of the problem...
Such material is already banned from publication on Australian sites, but the government currently has no control over it being accessed on servers
overseas.
Any 'filtering' (a.k.a. censoring) of materials is a form of control. It is a way to let others do your thinking for you. While I am not a citizen
of Australia, nor is my post meant to be an attack or insult on their way of life, I am concerned that this type of thing could end up in my own back
yard sooner then later.
Thoughts?
Source