Australian Internet Filtering - Bernadette McMenamin

Bernadette McMenamin

• Founder and CEO of ChildWise
• Vocal supporter of Internet Filtering
• Part of the Consultive Working Group to improve Cyber-Safety organised by Senator Conroy in May 2008. (http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/media_releases/2008/035)

Quotes

• To censor or protect - The Age 18/04/2009
  • "Computers and the internet enable more images to be passed around faster, with quick and easy access to many more people,"
  • "The images are becoming worse, and the children are getting younger. There are the most horrendous images you can imagine, two to three-year-olds and children as young as babies being raped and tortured."
  • "People are becoming desensitised; they want to see more hard-core images that will stimulate them. If people collect hundreds of sexual abuse images, they are stimulated and become interested in acting out. There is a strong link between viewing child sex abuse images and committing contact offences.
  • "Can you imagine Australia being a totalitarian government? I don't think so. This is a paranoid argument. As if Australia would become like China or Singapore. A few governments down the track can bring in a law the next day (if they want to increase censorship). It's ridiculous; we are just talking about (filtering) illegal material."

• Leaked Blacklist a fraud but ACMA still fuming - Government News 20/03/2009
  • “extremely disappointed” if the actual list was really leaked.
  • "It’s sad to see that someone with fairly well-advanced technical skills has gone to the trouble of leaking this list just to prove a political point,"
  • "I think that they, whoever they are, should be punished. This is the last thing we need."

• WikiLeaks Exposes Australian Web Blacklist - Wired 19/03/2009
  • "Every 15-year-old boy in the country is going to be after this porn list,"
  • "The person who's done this should be prosecuted and jailed for effectively disseminating and promoting child pornography."

• Web filter debate descends into slanging match at Kickstart Forum 2009 - news.com.au 24/02/2009
  • "Yes, there's been an awful lot of vitriol, there's been an awful lot of misinformation, and certainly I think there's been an awful lot of hysteria, and most of that hysteria is not coming from the child protection advocates, but it's coming from all these anonymous bloggers and people that write to you and just call you every name under the sun, and it's not helpful"
  • "I certainly don't spend my day in, day out, lobbying and attacking the opponents of the filtering,"
  • "I think there's probably only a few hundred of you in this country, you're vigorous, you're loud, you're technologically smart, but I still believe that filtering is something we should trial and then leave it up to the public to make that decision."
  • "I don't know why people are so afraid of the trials if you think they're going to be completely ineffective,"
  • "disappointed that you think like that, because I didn't accuse you of being child molesters".
  • "I think it's really incredibly arrogant to call people and those who support internet filtering stupid and the scheme stupid, and it's a very simplistic approach to something that is in discussion by a lot of different people,"
  • "In all the debates, you're not thinking about the children, you're thinking about the internet, you're thinking about the profits, you're thinking about the slowdown, you're thinking about technology – so, yes, it is up to some of us to think about the children."

• Internet filter protesters aim for Canberra - Australian IT 16/12/2008
  • "It's disturbing that people are getting hysterical about all the misinformation that is being spread about the internet filter,"
  • "Instead of hearing hysteria from the minority we need to hear from the Government and exactly what it intends to ban."
  • "Let the 300 people march on Canberra because it looks pathetic,"
  • "It looks pathetic and shameful because most of these people are not fully aware of the facts and secondly, those who are aware are, in effect, advocating child pornography."

• Telstra says no to filtering trials - Australian IT 09/12/2008
  • "This indicates that Telstra is not committed to banning child pornography and we should question its values,"
  • "The global criminal child pornography industry generates millions of dollars through the rape of children,"
  • "We must prevent these criminals from making money ... one of the main ways is to block access to consumers who purchase child porn as this demand creates supply."

• Child Wise’s Bernadette McMenamin on Internet filtering - Stilgherrian 14/01/2008

• Filters needed to battle child porn - Australian IT 08/01/2008