Protests lambast censorship proposal

Members of the gay and lesbian community joined with hundreds of protesters outside the Sydney Town Hall last Saturday, to raise objections to the Government’s proposed internet censorship plans.

The nationwide day of protest saw people come together to reject the plans which would prohibit material deemed inappropriate by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, and, according to some, could lead to slower internet services.

Gay and lesbian groups have raised concerns such a plan would unfairly disadvantage community groups whose websites refer to sexual material.

Research has shown that the internet is the primary source of information in regards to sexuality and sexual health as well as other social opportunities for young people, Twenty10 spokesman David Moutou said this week, although the organisation was not involved in the weekend’s protests.

When it comes to sexuality, there is such a fine line between what is helpful and needed information and what will be potentially limited by censorship of the internet. I guess we’re really concerned about how a censorship program would work and what the risk of it would actually be, for limiting the amount of information available to GLBT people.

One group present last Saturday was the Sydney Leather Pride Association. The organisation is concerned internet censorship would force them to develop a members-only website.

Our members were at the protest and have been encouraged to sign an online petition, SLPA President Greg Bloyd said.

We are going to have to invest money in changing our website to create a members-only area and just have a general information home page.

We would be likely to get fewer attendees at events as a result of this because our site won’t be particularly exciting when people can’t go beyond the first one or two pages without discovering a members-only area, he said, concerned that without the ability to see pictures from previous events newcomers would
be less likely to attend.

At the rally, wider freedom of speech issues were discussed by speakers, including Danny Yee, a board member of Electronic Frontiers Australia, an internet freedom lobby group.

This Government may not intentionally be laying the foundations for a much broader censorship system, or creating a tool that can be used to selectively pressure individual businesses and individuals, but that is what this system does.

Over and above its financial and economic costs and its ineffectiveness, those threats to our fundamental freedoms are the reason I oppose the internet censorship proposal.

Have your say: Should minority groups be given an exemption from the compulsory filter?