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ENVIRONMENT

Filters, fixes and flimsy in new Net policy

  • 10 July 2006
The Internet has revolutionised business, brought families together across the geographic divide and networked like-minded groups for good causes. But it has also delivered an unprecedented flood of pornography and graphic violence into our homes, schools and offices. Just how to deal with it presents a problem for parents, teachers and governments. Communications Minister Helen Coonan's latest plan is to give every family in the country a free Internet filter program for their computer. She described it as "the single biggest commitment to protecting families online in the history of the Internet in Australia". The government is also putting more money into its NetAlert advisory service for parents and will roll out a community education program - all at a cost of $117 million. But the families lobby, Labor, Family First and many government MPs are adamant the real solution lies with filtering at the Internet service provider (ISP) level. They argue that it would be better for children to receive a "clean feed" from the service provider than have parents, many of whom are computer illiterate, configure filters on their home computers. But while the government is watching the results of trials of ISP level filtering in Tasmania, it is reluctant to force ISPs to act. Senator Coonan argues there is much evidence against ISP-level filtering. She says it slows Internet access down considerably, it cannot deal with unsavoury goings-on in chat rooms and other parts of the Internet, and it is costly. What's more, it would encourage parents to take a hands-off approach, under the belief that their children can navigate the net free of any disturbing images or dodgy characters wanting to chat with them. "You wouldn't send your child out to ride their bike without a helmet, or let them travel in a car without a seat belt, so why would we let them surf the Internet without the protection of an effective filter?" she says. But Labor communications spokesman Stephen Conroy says 'clean feed' technology is working in Britain, Norway and Sweden and a Beazley government would implement such a scheme. He points to independent advice given to the government which said it causes a delay of only 10 milliseconds - an insignificant blip in the scheme of things - and there is no extra cost to the consumer. Senator Conroy says the minister is ignoring the fact that two in three households did not
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