Internet Censorship in Australia: Jan - Dec 2005

Guy Barnett is a Tasmanian Liberal Senator who is campaigning for censorship of the internet. His November 2005 press release titled 'Ban Access To Porn And Extreme Violence On Internet' argued for internet regulation to protect children. However, this final paragraph shows that he has Adults in mind as well.

The Australia Institute survey found that a much more effective method of restricting access of children to Internet sex sites would be to require all Australian ISPs to apply filters to all content, with some managed exemptions for adult users.

Ban Access To Porn And Extreme Violence On Internet

Senator Guy Barnett today called for a national ban on access to pornographic, extremely violent, and other inappropriate material via the internet, subject to "opt-in" rights for adults.

Adults wishing to view pornographic material and other material banned as such would have the right to "opt in", to receive such material.

Senator Barnett said research showed that most Australians would support such constraints applying both at public institutions such as schools and libraries, and in the home.

"I was staggered to learn recently that most libraries in Australia provide unfiltered access to the internet, and there is no legal obligation on public libraries to use internet filtering to prevent children's access to pornography," Senator Barnett said.

"General access to pornography at Commonwealth, State and local government public facilities is particularly worrying."

Senator Barnett said high risk places for children such as public libraries, child care centres and on-line access centres should have filtering to ban access to pornography and other inappropriate material.

“As Members of Parliament we have a duty of care to ensure that pornographic and violent sites are not available to children,” Senator Barnett said.

"In Tasmania in August it was discovered that children could access pornography at the State Library in Hobart. I wrote to the State Minister for Education Paula Wriedt on August 16 and five weeks later she says she is having a review done. This is not good enough," he said.

“It defies belief that students, especially minors, can be vulnerable to on-line porn sites at public libraries of all places. Public libraries are education institutions in the same way as schools are and should be protected as such from pornography and other inappropriate information,” Senator Barnett said.

One option is for a filter to be applied at the Tier 1 (e.g. Optus, Telstra, and Primus) internet service provider level. It could operate on the basis that those customers who wish to access pornographic material could apply to do so.

This reform would be supported by parents, (see statistics below) and would have the effect of filtering out pornography at home and on public sites, with the onus being on adult users to 'opt in' if they wish.

A Federally funded site called www.netalert.net.au has extensive advice on the use of filters and other safety advice for institutions and individual users. Some filter software is available free on the web and the Netalert site provides information on various filter sites.

A survey by the Australia Institute called Regulating Youth Access to Pornography dated 2003 found that 84% of boys and 60% of girls had been accidentally exposed to pornographic material on the internet, while two in every five boys had deliberately used the internet at some stage to see sexually explicit material.

“The survey found that 93% of parents were in favour of filtering out pornography available on the home computer, let alone those in public buildings. The survey also drew a link between prolonged exposure to this material and tolerance of sexual aggression,” Senator Barnett said.

He said he would be canvassing the issue with his Federal colleagues over the next few weeks.

The Australia Institute survey found that a much more effective method of restricting access of children to Internet sex sites would be to require all Australian ISPs to apply filters to all content, with some managed exemptions for adult users.

One month later a revised version of his press release was published in The Age. In it he states:

This reform would be supported by parents and would have the effect of filtering out pornography at home and on public sites, with the onus being on adult users to apply for unrestricted access if they wish.

LAST month, 62 members of the federal Coalition signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a ban on access to pornographic, violent and other inappropriate material via the internet.

The signatories believed the internet should be regulated in a similar way to other media. If adults wished to "opt in" to access the material then of course that would be their right, and they would have to apply for their right of access.

ADJOURNMENT: Internet Pornography
Date: 08 December, 2005
Database: Senate Hansard
Speaker: Barnett, Sen Guy (LP, Tasmania, Government) Page: 134
Proof: Yes
Source: Senate
Type: Speech
Context: Adjournment

Senator BARNETT (Tasmania) (11.17 p.m.)—Tonight I stand to speak on the issue of internet pornography and its regulation. Last month 62 members of the federal coalition signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a ban on access to pornographic, violent and other inappropriate material via the internet. The signatories believe the internet should be regulated in a similar way to other media. If adults wished to opt in to access the material then of course that would be their right and they would have to apply for their right of access.

It is too easy for children to access all manner of material on the internet, and I believe the system should default automatically in favour of protecting our children before we start considering the rights of adults. At this time of year as we move into the Christmas and the summer season, when children are on holidays and spending long periods of time on the computer at home or in public places like libraries, it would be inevitable, either by accident or by design, that they might be exposed to material they are simply not mature enough or socially skilled enough to cope with.

Let us not be naive about this. If this material is available on the internet, children may access it for a laugh and a giggle with their peers or they may access it by mistake in the course of their journey on the net. It would probably take them less than a minute from switching on the computer to accessing pornography or a pornographic site. Compare that with the problems facing a child who, for a laugh, attempts to buy a restricted magazine from a newsagent. It is nigh impossible—but why bother with the hard copy when you can access it electronically away from the supervising eyes of parents and other adults and do it so fast no-one would notice? And, for the unsuspecting child, the X-rated magazines at newsagents can be hidden from their view, but a pornographic image can fill their screen in a flash on the internet.

I have three children who already access the internet and I know will need to continue to access the internet in the coming years for their education and for other reasons. It fills me with dread to think what they could be confronted with in terms of pornography, violence and other material before reaching mature age.

General access to this material at public facilities is an area of particular concern. According to the Australian Library and Information Association survey of its 91 members in late 2003, the majority of libraries in Australia did not apply filters. There is currently no legal obligation on public libraries to use filtering to prevent children accessing pornography. Children had access to pornography on the internet at the State Library of Tasmania in Hobart in August this year. I wrote to the state Minister for Education, the Hon. Paula Wriedt, alerting her to this and asking for an immediate ban. The minister’s response was that she acknowledged the problem but there would be no ban but there would be a review of the procedures appropriate at the library. Today, some months later—in December—there is still no action. It defies belief that students, especially minors, can be vulnerable to online porn at public libraries—of all places. The US Child Internet Protection Act, for example, requires public libraries to install pornography filters on all computers providing internet access as a condition of receiving government funding.

It is also important to prevent access to this material in the home, unless a particular adult user has ‘opted in’. Options include filtering applied at the internet service provider level—for example, Telstra, Optus or Primus. It could be applied on the basis that those customers who wish to access pornographic or other adult material could apply to do so. An Australian government review last year found there were a number of difficulties in mandating filtering at the server level, with the cost of applying the filters being $45 million to establish and ongoing costs being $33 million per annum. In my view, given the significance and magnitude of the reform, it could be seen as a small price to pay for the protection of our children. This reform would be supported by parents and would have the effect of filtering out pornography at home and on public sites, with the onus being on adult users to apply for unrestricted access if they wish.

The Australian government has established and funds NetAlert, monitoring safety on the net. The government should be commended and congratulated on that initiative. In addition, the Federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, has announced an internet audit to ensure internet providers are complying with their codes of practice, and recently introduced a $2 million National CyberSafe Program, and I thank the minister for those initiatives and for that effort.

The government also bans X and RC material from being hosted by Australian internet service providers and content hosts, and requires all ISPs to provide filters at cost, or below, to consumers. It can fine ISPs if they do not comply with the industry codes. While I acknowledge that these are moves in the right direction, especially the safety audit, I do believe our government should regulate the internet at home and in public places to ensure the best interests of children are protected.

A survey reported in a discussion paper by the Australia Institute called Regulating Youth Access to Pornography dated 2003 found that 84 per cent of boys and 60 per cent of girls had been accidentally exposed to pornographic material on the internet, while two in every five boys had deliberately used the internet at some stage to see sexually explicit material. The survey found that 93 per cent of parents were in favour of filtering out pornography available on the home computer, let alone those in public buildings. The survey also drew a link between prolonged exposure to this material and tolerance of sexual aggression. Is this the reason that some men see women as a fashion, to be used one day and discarded the next? Women deserve respect and our children protection from obvious indecency. Any civil rights claim to automatic access is overridden by these principles.

One can only presume that, unchecked, these statistics concerning internet misuse will continue to grow. They certainly will not reduce unless action is taken. In any event, why is the internet so different from any other medium? Likewise, the fact that it is difficult—I admit—and costly to regulate does not mean we should keep a hands-off approach. If an adult family wishes to restore its right to have access to pornographic material and other material on the internet that may be deemed inappropriate, then so be it, but if the family includes children then the parents must acknowledge their responsibility and duty of care to ensure their children do not become victims.

Tonight I wish to acknowledge the good work and leadership of a number of organisations and individuals who hold similar concerns to my own on this issue—for example, the Fatherhood Foundation headed by Warwick and Alison Marsh. They have done a lot of good work on this issue over a long period of time and they have recently produced a report titled Sexual Integrity. In the introduction they say:

We thank you for taking the time to read Sexual Integrity. The Sexual Integrity publication is the result of the Sexual Integrity Forum that was held in Parliament House, Canberra on 8-9 August 2005.

That forum was supported by a whole range of federal members of parliament—bipartisan, across party—and that should be acknowledged, and their work in highlighting some of these issues is well noted.

I also wish to acknowledge the work of the Australian Family Association and Bill Muehlenberg in particular, who has a leadership role with the association; the Australian Christian Lobby and the leadership of Brigadier Jim Wallace; and, importantly, the mothers and fathers, and others, in the community who try hard to protect, care for and nurture their children under very difficult and, at times, challenging circumstances.

My views on this topic were published in today’s Age, and I have already received vitriolic and offensive emails and feedback regarding the so-called attack on civil liberties, and saying internet regulation is too hard and cannot be done. I will not give up. I will not give in to this pressure and nor, I suspect, will the 61 other members of the Federal coalition who felt motivated to pen and sign a letter of concern to the Prime Minister. The care and protection of children, no doubt, will remain a paramount consideration amongst federal coalition MPs.

In December 2004 the Tasmanian Government implemented Guy Barnett's idea of internet filtering for libraries.

Tasmanian public libraries and Online Access Centres will use filtering software to block access to pornographic and inappropriate websites from their computers from early next year to minimise the risk of exposure to inappropriate content by patrons and staff.

Education Minister Paula Wriedt said today that a review of filtering policies within the State Library and Online Access Centres was completed, and advice had been received from the Tasmanian Library Advisory Board and the Tasmanian Communities Online Advisory Board.

“The Tasmanian Government has developed a network of 48 branch and city libraries and 65 Online Access Centres that enables the Tasmanian community to have access to the Internet,” she said.

“Despite the educational and social benefits of the internet, there are risks associated with its use, and filtering technologies are now being used to protect young people against websites that are unsuitable.

“Adult clients will also be protected from the alarm and embarrassment of inadvertently accessing pornographic material in a public place or witnessing someone else accessing this material.

“Filtering will also remove the requirement of library and Online Access Centre staff having to confront and remove patrons accessing inappropriate material.”

Ms Wriedt said that libraries and Online Access Centres will now be filtered at the same level as Internet access in schools.

“In the event that some legitimate websites are blocked in error, staff will seek to get the filtering service provider to unblock these sites for patrons to access upon request.”

“Some concerns have been expressed about web filtering being a form of censorship. However I am firmly of the belief that we must do everything we can to ensure that members of the public and staff are not subjected to inadvertently viewing inappropriate material that others may choose to access.”

Mr Barnett is not going to be happy with this victory. In the following article he describes Tasmania's decision as:

Senator Barnett called on Ms Wriedt to implement internet filters for public library computers in August after the Sunday Tasmanian revealed that libraries were powerless to stop patrons accessing pornography on their computers.

Ms Wriedt subsequently instigated a review into the possible use of filters to prevent users accessing inappropriate websites.

But Senator Barnett said it had taken far too long for the decision to be made to fix the problem.

"I wrote to Ms Wriedt asking for an immediate ban back in August and she only wrote back many weeks later saying no, she wanted a review," he said.

"I wrote to the Prime Minister [John Howard] with 61 other colleagues last month calling for an immediate ban on access to pornography in any public place frequented by children.

"This is the first domino to fall and I'm hoping every other state will fall into line as soon as possible."

But Senator Barnett is not content with only banning pornography in public libraries, he wants it to be restricted in the home as well.

"I would like to see a system where access to pornography is blocked from home computers but with an opt-in option if people wish to be able to access it," he said.

Australian Internet Censorship Jan to Dec 2005

Ban Access To Porn And Extreme Violence On Internet

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