Australia's plans to filter Internet under fire

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — An Australian government plan to filter the Internet Wednesday drew criticism from privacy advocates who said it represented the start of state censorship.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, a member of the Labor team which ousted conservative prime minister John Howard in a November election, wants filters in place to shield children from online porn and violence.

Under the plan, Internet service providers would provide feeds filtered free of pornography and other inappropriate material to houses and schools.

Conroy has rejected criticism that the move will debase the freedom of the world wide web and represents a step towards the kind of Internet censorship in place in China where sites are regularly blocked and cyberdissidents...