Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told Federal Parliament recently that a six week trial of Australia's mandatory internet filter will commence before Christmas.
'The pilot will specifically test filtering against the ACMA blacklist of prohibited content, which is mostly child pornography, as well as filtering of other unwanted content,' he said in answer to a question from Greens Senator Scott Ludlam.
Nobody's going to defend child pornography, but the unspecified 'other unwanted content' is another matter.
We are being asked to trust the government to draw a line between 'wanted' and 'unwanted' content. The Australian Federal Police is playing a major role in the implementation of the filter. Revelations about the role they played in misjudging Dr Haneef, and the associated political manipulation, give us little confidence that they will get the internet content filter right.
The terms of the internet filter trial refer frequently to the 'ACMA blacklist'. What is this? What are the websites it includes? We do not know, for the contents of the list are not disclosed. They cannot even be obtained under Freedom of Information, due to an amendment to the FOI legislation. Electronic Frontiers Australia says:
'The Government is yet to explain under what terms the list will be expanded, who will decide what goes on it, and what mechanism will be available to correct errors.'
In a commentary for Crikey last week, Clive Hamilton characterised Electronic Frontiers Australia as 'extremist' internet libertarians. He argued that such groups are 'cowboys' who play by their own rules, and either refuse to acknowledge, or trivialise, the extent of the problem of child pornography.
He said: 'One prominent opponent [of the internet filter] characterised the Government’s proposed restrictions as an attempt to stop people looking at "naughty pictures".'
The protection of children is an emotive issue that cuts across rational debate. Hamilton and other supporters of the filter are presenting a legitimate moral argument, but they are yet to convince the community that it should be given preferential treatment over other moral arguments.
During the war against terror, we gave up some of our freedoms and trusted the government to do what was best for all. Many Australians supported our involvement in the war in Iraq. But when the truth about the case of Dr Haneef came to light, we had a scenario that included incompetence and political interference that led to serious violation of the rights of an individual.
It is hard to believe there