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OCAU News |
Net Censorship in NSW
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Thursday, 22-November-2001 17:26:05 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Unfortunately we've received this a little later than is ideal, but there's still time to be heard. There's a new bill before the NSW state parliament which is intended to protect children from viewing inappropriate content online. Now don't get me wrong, I strongly support that idea - there are some things, many of them online - that kids should not be exposed to. However, these proposed laws are not the solution. Electronic Frontiers Australia have posted an analysis of the NSW bill which explains why this is so vague as to be completely unworkable. Read their analysis and you'll be amazed - it's almost guaranteed to trap people who spend a lot of their lives and careers online. Some very basic points:- Existing laws cover this stuff already! If you're producing adult-oriented content and publishing it in New South Wales it doesn't matter if you're on the net or in a magazine, existing laws cover what you can and cannot publish.
- The definitions in these proposed laws are so vague that they will cover a lot of genuinely harmless and/or important discussion, much of which is perfectly legal offline, and make it illegal online.
- These laws will KILL the Australian Internet content-producing industry. At nearly $700 to get any content rated before publication - which will then need to be re-rated ($700 again) if it's changed, you can see how this would make things like the OCAU Forums - and indeed, OCAU itself - impossible to fund.
- The Bill proposes to make it an offence to publish material rated R, X or RC. Many things can be rated "R" without containing any sex or nudity, eg if they contain "adult themes". Detailed discussions or depictions of corruption, torture, abuse, etc are such adult themes. Such issues are also legitimate topics of debate in a healthy society. Given the recent evidence of corruption in the NSW Police Force, it is particularly hypocritical of the NSW Parliament to be attempting to censor discussions of corruption at this time.
EFA also have a historical analysis of how similar laws are progressing in South Australia. In that instance it seems that people's protests made the politicians stop and re-consider the laws - we need to get that happening now, too!
Don't just shake your head in disbelief and move on - if YOU don't take a few minutes to act on this and be heard, who will? You'll be the one complaining if these crazy ideas become law, so act now! I strongly urge you to read EFA's Action Alert that explains what you can do. I've already sent letters to the editors of the two newspapers listed in that document, explaining how these laws will kill many small businesses in Australia. Tonight I am writing a letter to my local member which I will express-post tomorrow. Don't wait for someone else to stop this - do it yourself!
If you're having trouble writing, consider basing your letter on some of these form letters in the forum. Don't just copy them verbatim, but use them as a guide if you like.
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