Although the initiative is intended and marketed as a tool to help protect children from the dangers of the Internet, this paternalistic scheme raises some troubling issues that affect all Australians. As a source of daily information, the Internet increases in importance every day. Do we really want the Government of the day deciding what Australian adults can and can't see? Do we want Australia to join a censorship club in which Burma, China and North Korea are the founding members?
* The list of prohibited sites will probably be secret, so it will be hard to know what content the Government has effectively banned.
* Filtering will be compulsory in all homes, even where there are no children.
* It is unknown whether there will be any way to have content removed from the prohibited list.
* How far will the list go, now and in future? Will it filter out material on sexual health, drug use, terrorism... even breastfeeding? Euthanasia and anorexia have been touted by Government MPs as topics worthy of filtering."
More here, here and here.
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