NOCENSORSHIP.INFO

Consultative Working Group on Cyber-safety

A ministerial media release dated 15 May 2008 detailing the Consultative Working Group on Cyber-safety can be found below or at this link.

Consultative Working Group to improve Cyber-Safety

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today announced the members of the Cyber-Safety Consultative Working Group as part of the Government’s $125.8 million program to improve online safety for children.

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National Protest Against Net Censorship!

Update: Congratulations everyone! We had a great public reaction and handed out many, many flyers! The public said to keep up the good work, and so we will. We gained attention from Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore whilst we were walking through Hyde Park, moved onto Parliament to flyer and then to the QVB where most of our success was. Massive thanks to Misinformation who organised the banner we had at the last moment also. It was definitely a highlight of the day when Clover Moore read it out over a PA. Thank you to everyone who came out and made an effort and we hope to see you all and new members in the future.

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As quoted in the Australian on 29 October 2008 “Australia’s level of net censorship will put it in the same league as countries including China, Cuba, Iran and North Korea, and the Government will not let users opt out of the proposed national internet filter when it is introduced.

Is this what the Labor government was voted in for? To put us on par with China’s human rights? You do all remember the drama involved regarding censorship in China during the Olympic games don’t you? Or how about their constitutional rights to freedom of media, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Do they even know they have these? Oh you didn’t know about them? There is censorship for you.

The Australian government cannot guarantee or consider the uses of which future governments could use these censorship and net safety policies as it is not government policy to do so. So no matter if their current conflicting reports on what they are aiming to achieve boil down to ‘Protect the children’, 3 or 4 governments down the line, think of what we might be possibly be looking at. All media, news, blogs, opposing political party web sites could be unavailable because the government would not want you to see them.

BBC, 25 October 2008,

“Senator Conroy has stated that Australians would be given the opportunity to opt-out, and that the scheme would therefore not be mandatory.

But a network engineer from one of Australia’s leading net suppliers, Internode, has challenged that assertion, arguing that there would be two black-lists. One would contain unsuitable and harmful material for children; the other would include inappropriate material for adults. “2

We see this again at couriermail.com.au, 28 October, 2008 “Web users will only be able to opt out of a secondary layer of internet censorship affecting adults-only material under the revised plan and both web filters will apply by default.

The admission, aired in the Senate last week, has been slammed by civil liberties and internet groups, who brand the change a “creeping” and “unprecedented” attack on personal freedom.”3

This is only just scratching the surface of the media attention available on this subject, and coming over the next few days we will be updating you with many more quotes from out illustrious leaders, the media and members of the Cyber-Safety committees. Also coming are answers we have received from government members in relation to the Internet Censorship policy.

If you would like to read more on the subject, here are a few links for you to have a look at:

ISP-level content filtering won’t work

EFA censorship article

Parliament search results for Cyber Safety

Conroy getting it wrong on other subjects

On the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

Whole of government review of E-Security

Netalarmed

A blog on censorship

Senator Conroy misleading the Senate on ‘illegal materials’.
A must read! A quote for your enjoyment : “Illegal material is illegal material. Child pornography is child pornography. I trust you are not suggesting that people should have access to child pornography.” Yes Senator Conroy, because of course, all internet users are child abusers.

Forums regarding ISP level filtering and how anyone opposing the censorship is a ‘child abuser’.

No Clean Feed

Petition against censorship

Censorship and Classification

A Victorian Community Portal with their information on censorship and the children.

Indymedia

A blog about censorship and moral panic in Australia, with a particular focus on Internet censorship.

Wikipedia on Australian Internet Censorship.

‘Who censures the censor’ Article.

A blog article on mandatory censorship

Conroy trying to censor a critic.

Internet trials, ‘What ever happened to personal choice’.

“…A SAGE-AU member and Internode engineer, Mark Newton, criticised the government and its Internet filtering policy on the Whirlpool broadband forum.”

“Subsequently, a policy advisor for Senator Conroy is reported to have expressed “serious concern” about Newton’s comments to a board member of the Internet Industry Association (IIA) and requested that this concern be passed to his employer, an IIA member.” Noone likes criticism, but as the government are you not there to work for the people, not censor them?”

“SENATORS in the Aussie government can’t get enough of their new found powers of telling their citizens what they can have on their internet connections.
Not content with censoring what they define as illegal content, the Aussie government is now considering filtering all porn from the Internet”

“In Federal eyes, it must seem that aussie adults are incapable of making informed decisions about what they will and will not watch, read or interact with online.”

The Age on the government trying to silence critics.

“Filtering specifically against a blacklist of illegal content as well as the ability to filter additional material will be one part of the upcoming pilot trial,”

“An Australian law expert has warned that under the government’s proposed mandatory Internet content filtering scheme Australians will have no way of finding out what “illegal” content has been censored and blocked online,”

Some other quotes from the above article:

“The government at some stage along the way actually amended the Freedom of Information Act to say that this type of information could not be FOI’d,”

“Australians, he reminded, have no explicit freedom of speech within the constitution.”

Labor’s original ‘Plan for Cyber-safety’

Stay tuned Australia, and if we are not censored in the next few hours there will be more links, more quotes, more policy decisions and more information here, just for you.

Remember, we have to fight for our freedom whilst we can.

Do you believe in freedom of information?

The right to research what you want?

The ability to know that your government is working for you?

As it currently stands the Australian Labor Party are trying to take away your freedoms with their Cyber-safety program.

Originally intended as a ‘protect the children’ type scheme, this plan, under Senator Conroy has expanded to filtering and censoring all available internet in Australia.

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If you are here you are probably looking for a way to join in the action for public awareness and information, and to let the government know your input on their plan to censor the internet.

Following are some of the people that you can contact.

Remember, some committee members are from groups supporting child rights, we have no problem with this. They are listed so that you can let them know that censoring everyone’s internet is not the solution to protecting the children.

Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy
Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE
Suite MG70
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
minister@dbcde.gov.au

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