CLA has launched a campaign to stop the Rudd Government imposting mandatoring internet filtering – censorship – on adult Australians’ access to the internet. The campaign consists of a new website – http://www.censorfree.com.au/ – and a series of events, activities and media releases to be rolled out over the coming few months.
The government wants to stop children accessing pornography, a move CLA is entirely in agreement with. But the government has backed down on a promise to do so under an ‘opt-in’, voluntary system for parents, and instead plans to impose mandatory censorship, cutting adult Australians’ access to information (and dramatically reducing internet speeds as a by-product).
The government is also backing away from a commitment to review the anti-terror laws passed in haste and panic after 11 September 2001: they still have not abolished the sedition laws, a clear pre-election promise more than 12 months ago.
Some other items featuring in this month’s CLArion include:
- IGIS finds ASIO ‘bananas’ not guilty enough;
- CLA’s Model Litigant campaign gets under way;
- Changes to DNA laws need careful watching;
- Police and A-G hire private spies to snoop online;
- Stun gun use: questions arise in two States;
- Powers of Attorney to operate nationwide;
- NSW plans to privatise more jails;
- People support e-health…as long as it is voluntary;
- Calma calls for ‘First Nation’ status in charter;
- Europe shelves full-body, see-through airport scans;
- Child, 13, wins legal right to die;
- Zimbabwe rights groups honoured for pursuing justice; and
- Pacific Forum open door policy to be kept.
