Australia Censorship News

Another layer of secrecy is being stripped from Australian internet users. At a time when users are being forced to and over personal ID data in the name of age verification, it seems that governments will be quick in demanding that internet companies have to hand over such data to them.

It was announced that internet companies will now be forced to reveal the ages of active users supposedly so that the Australian Government can get a grip on the impact these platforms are having on Australian kids.

Last week the Albanese Government announced sweeping reforms intended to boost transparency and accountability for digital platforms used by Australians including popular social media, messaging and gaming services. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the government had amended the Basic Online Safety Expectations to better address new and emerging online safety issues and help hold the tech industry accountable.

The new Determination will also require companies to provide, on request of the eSafety Commissioner, a report on the number of active end-users of services in Australia, broken down according to the number of users who are children or adults.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said that without information on users' ages, the Government was flying blind. Inman Grant said these strengthened powers meant her office would now be able to find out precisely how many children are on specific services. She said:

This needs to be a starting point of understanding how many under-aged users are on these platforms today, otherwise governments are flying blind. If we're serious about effectively managing the ages and stages at which a child can partake in social media, we need to move forward with all technology companies deploying effective age-assurance systems.

Australia has abandoned a legal battle to have footage of a church stabbing in Sydney removed worldwide from Elon Musk's social media platform X.

Declared a terror incident by police, the attack on bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in April was livestreamed online and led to riots outside the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley.

Australia's internet censor, title d eSafety Commissioner, threatened X and other social media companies with hefty fines if they did not remove videos of the stabbing.

X did block access to the video in Australia, but users could easily get around this by using a VPN. So the internet censor, Julie Inman-Grant,  demanded that the video be removed worldwide from X. Musk responded by calling her a censorship commissar.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded back by labelling Musk an arrogant billionaire.

Australia's Federal Court temporarily ordered X hide the videos.

X refused to comply arguing that the commission's orders were unlawful and dangerous. X said:

Global takedown orders go against the very principles of a free and open internet and threaten free speech everywhere.

The case was seen as a test of Australia's ability to enforce its online safety rules globally on the social media giants.

In a statement Inman-Grant said owing to multiple considerations, dropping the case was likely to achieve the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, especially children.

In a statement on X, the firm's Global Government Affairs team said they were heartened to see that freedom of speech has prevailed.

On 29 March 2023, the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, announced the government would undertake a two-stage process to reform the Scheme. The first stage of reforms will be implemented in full during 2024 and include:

• introducing mandatory minimum classifications for gambling-like content in computer games

• expanding options for industry to self-classify content using individuals who have been trained and accredited by government

• extending the Classification Board's powers to quality assure self-classification decisions

• expanding exemptions from classification for low-risk cultural content

• removing the need for content that has been classified under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, or by the national broadcasters, and has not changed, to be re-classified for distribution in other formats.

The second stage of reforms will be more comprehensive in scope and will establish a framework for classification that is fit-for-purpose and will serve Australia into the future.

We want to hear your views on the following 3 key areas identified for consideration as part of the second stage of classification reforms:

• clarifying the scope and purpose of the Scheme, including the types of content that should be classified

• ensuring the classification guidelines continue to be aligned with, and responsive to, evolving community standards and expectations, and

• establishing fit-for-purpose governance and regulatory arrangements for the Scheme, under a single national regulator responsible for media classification.

As part of its efforts to combat violence against women, the government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced funding to test age/ID verification methods for pornography websites in a pilot program. This move came after Albanese and the national cabinet ruled in 2023 that mandatory age verification was not yet an option.

AUS $6.5 million has been allocated for a pilot of age assurance to test the technology's effectiveness. The pilot will identify available age assurance products and assess their efficacy, including in relation to privacy and security. The outcomes of this pilot will support the eSafety Commissioners' ongoing implementation of censorship rules under the Online Safety Act.

Australia's prime minister has also moved to ban deepfake and artificial intelligence pornography as part of a $925million bid to counter a  rise in violence against women. Sharing sexually explicit material using artificial intelligence will also be subject to serious criminal penalties.

Albanese noted community concerns about toxic male views online and young men's exposure to violent imagery on the internet.

 

Offsite Comment: The Australian Government Is Making Porn a Scapegoat for Rising Violence Against Women

5th May 2024. Thanks to Trog. See article from vice.com by Darcy Deviant

Here is an artlcie offering a very sensible counter argument to the usual porn is bad diatribes:

As a sex worker, the most concerning part of this conversation is the use of the sex industry as a political scapegoat for men's violence.

Let's be clear: the porn industry was never created to provide sex education to children. But let's also be honest: if your child is actively seeking out pornography, or so-called violent pornography, perhaps there's a gap in their learning about sex and sexuality that the education system or a guardian has failed to fill.

See article from vice.com