Filtering is not the answer

Australia’s Rudd government wants to trial online content filtering through Australian ISPs (Internet Service Providers) as a part of their Plan for Cyber-Safety [1]. Material deemed inappropriate for those under 18 would be blocked, and on the way, adults (who did not opt out) would also be unable to view this content.

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.

Mark Newton of Internode wrote in an online forum:

The much-touted ‘opt-out’ would merely involve switching from blacklist number 1 to blacklist number 2…Regardless of your personal preference, your traffic will pass through the censorship box.

Senator Conroy has since indicated that there would be a two-tier system: a mandatory one that would block all ‘illegal material’ and an optional tier that would block material deemed unsuitable for children, such as pornography. [2]

The whole system should be opt-in for those who wish to take part. As CW blogged at Ruminations,

This is wrong on so many levels. For one thing, filters are never going to be 100% effective, and for another, who is going to decide what is unsuitable for adults? I didn’t realise we were living in a dictatorship!

Parents or guardians are the only people who should decide what is unsuitable for their own children, and only their children.

A couple of weeks ago I joked to my friend Andrew that if this legislation went ahead, there’d be no more blogging about Yaoi for me. It wasn’t until CW’s succinct ruminations, that I realised I shouldn’t be joking about it. My posts Challenges to Graphic Novels in Libraries and Yaoi in the Library include the words “sex,” “explicit violence” and “erotic titles.” My blog includes no explicit content. I write about the topic of explicit content, and the importance of it in public (and other) libraries’ collections, because some adults have an interest in it. Interest in such content is not illegal and every adult has the right to enjoy content of their choosing. A filter would block those posts and probably all of my blog.

Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) discussed censorship creep.

Everyone with any lobbying clout will be after the government to ban their pet peeve websites. [2]

I blog about Yaoi and Boys Love (BL) manga, which have themes of love between two men [3]. Sometime in the future would “The Censor” decide such content is inappropriate? Yaoi are erotic titles aimed at adults [4] while Boys Love has no explicit content and are fine for all ages. Some people have a problem with even BL [5]. This doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be available, read and enjoyed by those who like it, either online or in book form. Love and sex between two men (or two women) is a part of life and children and teenagers need to learn this whether they are gay, straight or undecided.

Although the Labor Party has a majority in the lower house, the Senate is another matter. The Greens, an independent from South Australia and the socially conservative Family First Party must agree with any legislation in order for it to be passed. Family First don’t think much of “alternative” lifestyles or families.

I don’t want to live in a nanny state! If you don’t want to either, sign the petition, then write to Senator Conroy and your local MP.

References

1. Meloni, Michael (2008) The high price of internet filtering ABC News, 24 October.
2. Bryant, Nick (2008) Australia trials national net filters BBC News, 25 October.
3. Masaki, Lyle (2008) “Yowie!” The Stateside appeal of boy-meets-boy YAOI comics After Elton, 6 January.
4. McLelland, Mark (2000) Male homosexuality and popular culture in modern Japan Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, issue 3.
5. Brenner, Robin (2007) Understanding Manga and Anime. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, p.135.