Censorship

I just wrote this letter to Senator Stephen Conroy who is proposing a mandatory block on certain Internet content. Here I release it as an open letter. For more information on campaigns against this censorship, visit Electronic Frontiers Australia

5 April 2010

The Honorable Senator Stephen Conroy
Parliament House, Canberra

Dear Senator Conroy

I am writing to request that you withdraw from your intention to censor the Web.

The arguments are clear and have been cited in many places

it can be bypassed (proxies and other non-Web paths)

it won’t stop really dangerous activities (paedophile pickups online)

it won’t stop groups who will find other mechanisms (paedophiles, terrorists)

it will slow down the Net (you have only tested with huge bandwidth and minimal usage, and are even admitting it will slow major sites like Wikipedia and Google)

it will inevitably block innocent materials

the secrecy of blocking lists and mechanisms breeds suspicion

But my main concern is with freedom of speech, and establishing a mechanism for this to be abused. This may not be your intention. But we see bending of rules and misinformation aplenty in otherwise democratic countries, both by the public and by government, and egregious examples in states that have introduced Internet bans like this. The incentives and the supporters are there for a closed society, for one reason or another (business, morals or whatever). We don’t have a Bill of Rights or any formal safeguards against blocking of freedom of speech (other than some limited rights implied from the constitution). This is a dangerous action and it establishes the system for major abuses in future.

I am not the only one arguing against a filter. I note today’s Canberra Times editorial (Tread carefully on web censorship, in Canberra Times, 5 Apr 2010, p.8), and the recent reports of concerns at the US Department of State and the widespread concerns amongst the ICT community. And I suggest you take heed of this for another generation of voters. They already know Howard Liberals for the benign economy of the time. Now they also equate Labor with censorship. I am a parent of young adults and I know this to be the case. This is a major issue to that community as well as others and will help to set voting expectations for a generation. I warn you to take care to align with conservative Christian bodies. Australia is the product of a Christian tradition, but it’s an easy-going one and open to secularism. The conservatives are loud but they are also short-lived and often just plain wrong.

You can still make a tactical withdrawal. Perhaps change your message to support the existing blocking mechanism (Howard was sensible enough to withdraw from this hornets’ nest) and publicise the blocked list or at least provide a decent audit mechanism. On the other hand, the Liberals may still save you from yourself by not passing the legislation on the basis of freedom of speech. But it’s a strong argument and embarrassing to be on the wrong side of it.

Let me tell you this story to illustrate my concerns. I run a website and blog, and I put a lot of voluntary work into it (...). It is respected and is valued enough to be archived by the National Library of Australia. But if I try to send a link in a Facebook message, I get a refusal and a message that some of my content is “abusive”. So I am locked out of that path, and totally without justification. You may not plan to limit speech, but it’s inherent in your actions.

Freedom of speech is a foundation right and essential for the protection of other rights.

Your path is very dangerous and I implore you to reconsider.

[Name withheld for Internet publication]