85-566: Internet censorship in Australia is enforced by both the country's criminal law as well as voluntarily enacted by internet service providers. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a blocklist of overseas websites which is then provided for use in filtering software. The restrictions focus primarily on child pornography , sexual violence , and other illegal activities , compiled as
170-612: A Facebook post that promoted a protest over COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria. A viral video from before her incitement charge shows her offering to take the post down and trying to convince the police that she did not know it was illegal. Rosalind Croucher of the Australian Human Rights Commission and Wendy Harris of the Victorian Bar both expressed concerns that police had infringed on freedom of expression with
255-411: A combination of DNS blocking and IP blocking . DNS blocking is relatively easy to circumvent (whether implemented through ISP-controlled DNS servers or sniffing all DNS requests); whereas IP bans can only be circumvented with a proxy , VPN or Tor . Information on the exact methods and timeframes that sites were blocked is vague and anecdotal, but there was a significant amount of online discussion at
340-566: A complaints mechanism for Australian residents and law enforcement agencies to report prohibited online content, including child sexual abuse material . Within the scheme, which operates under Schedules 5 and 7 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 , content is assessed with reference to the same criteria within the National Classification Scheme that applies to films and computer games in Australia. The ACMA Hotline
425-466: A disproportionate response. Politicians Michael O'Brien and Steven Ciobo , while reaffirming their support for the lockdown, also criticised the arrest as heavy handed. In June 2011, two Australian ISPs, Telstra and Optus , confirmed they would voluntarily block access to a list of child-abuse websites provided by the Australian Communications & Media Authority and more websites on
510-630: A few groups strongly supporting the policy. In November 2010, the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) released a document indicating that the earliest date any new legislation could reach parliament was mid-2013. However, voluntary filtering by ISPs remains a possibility. Proposed Australian laws on Internet censorship are sometimes referred to as the Great Firewall of Australia, Rabbit Proof Firewall (a reference to
595-542: A fictional transcript of John Howard apologising to Australians for the Iraq War . The website was forcibly taken offline by the government with no recourse. After the devastating bushfires in February 2009, details about an alleged arsonist were posted online by bloggers. Victoria Police deputy commissioner Kieran Walshe had asked the state Director of Public Prosecutions to examine the possibility of removing these blogs from
680-454: A focus on agency innovation: Major program delivery – through resource and program management with fully effective corporate governance: Effective regulation – doing the 'day job' of the regulatory agency with effective and efficient regulatory administration and operations coupled with extensive stakeholder engagement: Representing Australia's interests internationally (see International Telecommunication Union ) The ACMA administers
765-575: A list compiled by unnamed international organisations from mid-year. On 20 March 2019, Telstra , Optus , TPG and Vodafone censored access to several websites in response to the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand . The websites, which included LiveLeak , 4chan , 8chan , Voat , Kiwi Farms and Zero Hedge , were blocked for allegedly hosting footage of the shootings that was originally live-streamed on Facebook . Sites were banned using
850-537: A manufacturer of internet filtering software, contained 2395 sites. Approximately half of the sites on the list were not related to child pornography, and included online gambling sites, YouTube pages, gay, straight, and fetish pornography sites, Misplaced Pages entries, euthanasia sites, websites of fringe religions, Christian sites, and even the websites of a tour operator and a Queensland dentist. Colin Jacobs, spokesman for lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia , said that there
935-508: A new agreement for sharing of information about serious child abuse material, including an arrangement whereby the ACMA can report content through INHOPE based on where content may be produced, as well as where it is hosted During National Child Protection Week 2013, the ACMA Hotline conducted 418 investigations involving over 4,700 images of abused children to Australian police agencies or through
SECTION 10
#17328839182421020-469: A perpetrator or accomplice, within a reasonable time-frame. Hosts must also identify and report such content to authorities. Those who do not remove the materials may face fines (including up to $ 10.5 million or 10% of annual revenue for corporations) and jail time. This law applies regardless of whether or not the content is hosted on servers in Australia. The bill has faced criticism for being imprecise, with no formal definition of how quickly sites must remove
1105-404: A result of a consumer complaints process. In October 2008, a policy extending Internet censorship to a system of mandatory filtering of overseas websites which are, or potentially would be, "refused classification" (RC) in Australia was proposed. Australia is classified as "under surveillance" (a type of "Internet enemy") by Reporters Without Borders due to the proposed legislation. If enacted,
1190-449: A subset of these sites. In October 2008, the governing Australian Labor Party proposed extending Internet censorship to a system of mandatory filtering of overseas websites which are, or potentially would be, "refused classification" (RC) in Australia. As of June 2010, legislation to enact the proposed policy had not been drafted. The proposal has generated substantial opposition, with a number of concerns being raised by opponents and only
1275-439: A web filter. Australian Federal Police would then pursue smaller ISPs and work with them to meet their "obligation under Australian law". iiNet and Internode quietly confirmed that the request to censor content from Australian Federal Police went from voluntary to mandatory under s313 in an existing law. iiNet had sought legal advice and accepted the s313 mandatory notice but would not reveal the legal advice publicly. In June 2015,
1360-409: A webform on the ACMA's website. Popularly held misconceptions about the ACMA's regulatory role include that it investigates and takes action on whole websites (it investigates specific URLs, images or files) and that the ACMA causes blocking of content at an ISP level (it notifies overseas hosted content to optional end-user filters). In February 2013, the ACMA and Australian Federal Police announced
1445-555: A wide range of responsibilities, it does so against a backdrop of rapid change. Many of the controls on the production and distribution of content and the provision of telecommunications services through licensing or other subsidiary arrangements, or by standards and codes (whether co-regulatory or self-regulatory) are subject to revision and adaptation to the networked society and information economy. Moreover, there are new platforms, applications, business models, value chains and forms of social interaction available with more to come in what
1530-419: Is a dynamic, innovative environment. Other challenges for regulators include cross-jurisdictional issues and the need for engagement and collaboration with stakeholders locally, regionally and internationally. ACMA has developed a 'converged communications regulator' framework which seeks to bring to the global discussion a 'common ground' to deliver outcomes in the public interest. The four cornerstone parts to
1615-484: Is implied in the constitution, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combine to ensure freedom of speech and press. There were no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government routinely monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups can and do engage in
1700-526: Is likely that the whole site would be censored by the filter. A search on terms related to the article will produce a message that one of the results has been removed after a legal request relating to Australia's Racial Discrimination Act 1975 . In 2010, the website of the Australian Sex Party is banned from within several state and federal government departments, including Stephen Conroy 's Australian Communications & Media Authority . Convenor of
1785-721: Is one of a global network of international bodies within INHOPE – the International Association of Internet Hotlines that exchange information on child abuse images, pinpointing the hosting countries to help eradicate them from the web. INHOPE consists of 44 members in 38 countries, with members including the Internet Watch Foundation (UK), the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (USA), Cyberia (Canada), Friendly Runlet Foundation (Russian Federation) and
SECTION 20
#17328839182421870-437: Is responsible for collecting broadcasting, radiocommunication and telecommunication taxes, and regulating Australian media. It does this through various legislation, regulations, standards and codes of practice. ACMA is a converged regulator, created to oversee the convergence of telecommunications, broadcasting, radio communications and the internet. ACMA is an independent government agency managed by an executive team comprising
1955-496: Is sent with consent, contains sender identification and contact information and includes a functional unsubscribe facility. Some exemptions apply. Members of the public are able to make complaints and reports about commercial electronic messages to ACMA which may conduct formal investigations and take enforcement actions. The ACMA developed the Australian Internet Security Initiative (AISI) to help address
2040-470: Is the merging of the previously distinct services by which information is communicated – telephone, television (free-to-air and subscription) radio and newspapers – over digital platforms. ACMA also works with industry and citizens to solve new concerns and mitigate risks arising in the evolving networked society and information economy, recognizing that Australians are interacting with digital communications and content in changing ways. Not only does ACMA address
2125-447: Is the physical network used to convey requests from users' computers to these servers and responses from the servers back to the users. The proposed filter only monitors certain ports specific to conveying web traffic. As it aims to monitor the majority of web traffic, it is appropriately referred to as a web filter. As it is agnostic of the majority (99.99%) of other connections a user's computer might establish with other computers on
2210-471: Is to protect and promote the civil liberties of users and operators of computer-based communications systems such as the Internet. It also advocates the amendment of laws and regulations in Australia and elsewhere which restrict free speech as well educating the community at large about the social, political, and civil-liberties issues involved in the use of computer-based communications systems. The organisation has warned against privacy invasions following
2295-638: Is unsuitable for minors. In 2002, the New South Wales Standing Committee on Social Issues issued a report recommending that the legislation be repealed, and in response the New South Wales government stated that the legislation "will be neither commenced nor repealed" until after the review of the Commonwealth Internet censorship legislation had been completed. In October 2000, Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) attempted under
2380-673: The Australian Broadcasting Authority (the predecessor to ACMA) cleared them of breaching government regulations on 30 October 2002. Also in 2002, and under the terms of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 , the Federal Court ordered Fredrick Töben to remove material from his Australian website which denied aspects of the Holocaust and vilified Jews. In 2006, Richard Neville published a "spoof" website that had
2465-510: The Australian Communications & Media Authority , but this event exposed the independent power that ISPs may exercise. Telstra released a brief statement soon after blocking the sites, referring to "extraordinary circumstances" that required an "extraordinary response". TPG did not officially respond to media inquires other than a statement that it would "comply with any request of this nature made to us by authorities"; however, user reports indicate that TPG also temporarily blocked access to
2550-923: The Broadcasting Services Act 1992 , the Telecommunications Act 1997, the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 and the Radiocommunications Act 1992. There are another 22 Acts to which the agency responds in such areas as spam, the Do Not Call Register and interactive gambling. The ACMA also creates and administers more than 523 legislative instruments including radiocommunications, spam and telecommunications regulations; and license area plans for free-to-air broadcasters. ACMA's main offices are located in Canberra , Melbourne and Sydney . Communications convergence
2635-623: The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) to obtain documents relating to the implementation of the web filter. While a few were released, many were not, and in 2003 new legislation, "Communications Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2002", was passed by the Liberal government and four independents, and opposed by The Greens and the Australian Labor Party. While the stated reason for the bill was to prevent people accessing child pornography by examining
Internet censorship in Australia - Misplaced Pages Continue
2720-491: The Labor government announced plans to mandate censorship of refused classification material in Australia. The then Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy , Senator Stephen Conroy , released a statement titled Measures to improve safety of the internet for families , which briefly outlined the proposed purpose and methods of filtering. The scheme aimed to develop "a package that balances safety for families and
2805-504: The web , as they might jeopardise any court case. In March 2009, after a user posted a link to a site on ACMA's blocklist on the Whirlpool forum, Whirlpool's service provider , Bulletproof Networks , was threatened with fines of $ 11,000 per day if the offending link was not removed. The same link in an article on EFA's website was removed in May 2009 after ACMA issued a "link-deletion notice", and
2890-568: The ACMA blacklist. He was backed up by ISP Tech 2U, one of six ISPs involved in filtering technology trials. Conroy's denial was called into doubt by the Internet Industry Association (IIA), who publicly condemned the publishing of the list, chief executive Peter Coroneos saying, "No reasonable person could countenance the publication of links which promote access to child abuse images, irrespective of their motivation, which in this case appears to be political." Conroy later claimed
2975-433: The ACMA to law enforcement in Australia, or, in the case of child sexual abuse material hosted overseas, through INHOPE for rapid police notification and take-down in the host country. The ACMA publishes comprehensive statistics and information about the ACMA Hotline on its website. The majority of investigations the ACMA conducts concern online child sexual abuse material. Complaints to the ACMA Hotline are usually made via
3060-535: The Act, gave the Commissioner responsibility for managing and enforcing the online content scheme (part 9). Electronic Frontiers Australia Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. ( EFA ) is a non-profit Australian national non-government organisation representing Internet users concerned with online liberties and rights . It has been vocal on the issue of Internet censorship in Australia . Its main objective
3145-535: The Australian Rabbit-proof fence ), Firewall Australia or Great Firewall Reef (a reference to Great Barrier Reef and the Great Firewall of China ). The proposed filter has been referred to in the media variously as an Internet filter and a web filter. The worldwide-web is a myriad of software documents containing pointers to each other, hosted on server computers around the world. The Internet
3230-628: The Australian Sex Party Fiona Patten has described this ban as "unconstitutional". In April 2013, it was revealed that an IP address used by more than 1,200 websites had been censored by certain Internet service providers. It was discovered by the Melbourne Free University which was one of the sites censored. It was later revealed that the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) had ordered
3315-700: The Chair (who is also the Agency Head), Deputy Chair (who is also the chief executive officer). ACMA collects revenue on behalf of the Australian Government through broadcasting, radiocommunications and telecommunications taxes, charges and license fees. It also collects revenue from price-based allocation of spectrum. The corporate structure comprises four divisions – Communications Infrastructure, Content, Consumer and Citizen, Corporate and Research, and Legal Services. ACMA has responsibilities under four principal Acts –
3400-605: The EFA acquired redacted copies of the Walsh Report under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 , and released the redacted version on their site. In 1999, the organisation moved against legislation aiming to filter internet pornography and other material deemed unfit for public consumption online that was pursued by politicians such as Brian Harradine . The EFA spoke out against the rulings in relation to convicted Holocaust denier Fredrick Töben and his Adelaide Institute , taking
3485-485: The EFA took the precautionary step of also removing indirect links to the material in question. The 2009 winner of the George Polk award for videography shows footage of 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan being shot and dying during Iran protests. This footage has also been declared "prohibited content" by ACMA, attracting fines of $ 11,000 per day for any Australian website which posts a link to the video. On 15 December 2009,
Internet censorship in Australia - Misplaced Pages Continue
3570-476: The INHOPE international network for action overseas. During the week, the ACMA announced it is now working more closely with CrimeStoppers in Australia to make it easier to report illegal online content. The ACMA's online role is not connected to ISP blocking 'worst of the worst' child abuse material, which was operated by ISPs and the Australian Federal Police . In July 2015, this function moved to
3655-478: The Internet Hotline Center Japan. If prohibited online content is found in Australia, it is issued with a take-down notice after being formally classified; if it is hosted overseas it is notified to optional end-user Family Friendly Filters that are accredited by industry through the Internet Industry Association (these are available at cost from ISPs). All potentially illegal content is reported by
3740-574: The Internet for any non-web traffic would be unaffected. In 1995, the Labor Party of Federal Government began inquiries into regulating access to online content as part of expanding the scope of classification material mediums. In the same year, the Liberal Party of Victoria and Western Australia State Governments and Country Liberal Party of Northern Territory Government implemented changes to law that allows censoring online content as part of expanding
3825-475: The Internet, it is something of a misnomer to refer to it as an Internet filter. Since the proposed filter is situated at the Internet service provider (the junction between users and the Internet at large), introducing such a filter cannot possibly slow down the Internet itself. It can only (potentially) slow down access to the Internet by users of that ISP. Ignoring load considerations, communication speed across
3910-624: The Labor Party opposed filtering at the ISP level, with Labor Senator Kate Lundy stating Australian Communications and Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority ( ACMA ) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio . ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Australian Communications Authority. ACMA
3995-596: The Office of the Children's safety Commissioner. ACMA operates Australia's Do Not Call Register, which is a scheme to reduce unsolicited telemarketing calls and marketing faxes to individuals who have indicated they do not want to receive such calls by registering their private and domestic telephone (including mobile) and fax numbers on the Register. The scheme has been in operation since May 2007. Since mid-2013, Salmat has managed
4080-512: The RC filter". In January 2010, the Encyclopedia Dramatica article "Aboriginal" was removed from the search engine results of Google Australia , following a complaint that its content was racist . George Newhouse, the lawyer for the complainant, claims the site is "illegal" and should be blocked by the mandatory web filter. As the address of the site appeared on the leaked ACMA blocklist, it
4165-457: The Register on behalf of ACMA. ACMA is responsible for enforcing the Spam Act 2003 which prohibits the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages with an Australian link. A message has an Australian link if it originates, or was authorised, in Australia, or if the message was accessed in Australia. Anyone who sends commercial email, SMS, or instant messages must ensure that the message
4250-514: The Senate passed a bill in response to the Christchurch mosque shooting which required websites that provide a hosting service to "ensure the expeditious removal" of audio or visual material documenting "abhorrent violent conduct" (including terrorist acts, murder, attempted murder, torture, rape or kidnapping), produced by a perpetrator or accomplice, within a reasonable time frame. Hosts must also report such content to authorities. Those who do not remove
4335-413: The abhorrent content, and being wider-reaching than needed (it applies to any service that hosts content, while the intent of the bill implied a goal to impose it on social networking services ). Some state governments have laws that ban the transmission of material unsuitable for minors. In New South Wales , Internet censorship legislation was introduced in 2001 which criminalises online material which
SECTION 50
#17328839182424420-475: The benefits of the digital revolution", and was intended to complement the work of the ACMA by blocking content hosted overseas which is out of the control of Australian authorities. An anti-censorship website was hosted on stephenconroy.com.au and stephen-conroy.com, satirising Senator Conroy and his proposed blocklist. The site referred to Conroy as the "minister for fascism", and contained humorous graphics and statements condemning censorship. On 18 December 2009,
4505-511: The blacklist after the ACMA blocked several WikiLeaks pages following their publication of the Danish blacklist. Assange said that "This week saw Australia joining China and the United Arab Emirates as the only countries censoring WikiLeaks." Three lists purporting to be from the ACMA were published online over a seven-day period. The leaked list, which was reported to have been obtained from
4590-518: The censored sites, this bill exempted whole documents from FOI, many of which did not reference prohibited content at all. EFA state that the bill was designed to prevent further public scrutiny of web filtering proposals. In 2002, New South Wales Police Force Minister Michael Costa attempted, without success, to shut down three protest websites by appealing to the then-communications minister Richard Alston . The Green Left Weekly stated these were Melbourne Indymedia and S11 websites, and that
4675-568: The censorship of the address to target a fraud website, and that the remaining websites were censored unintentionally. The block was subsequently lifted. ASIC subsequently revealed that it had used its censorship powers 10 times over the preceding 12 months, and that a separate action taken in March had also caused the inadvertent temporary censorship of around 1000 untargeted active sites, as well as around 249,000 sites that hosted "no substantive content" or advertised their domain name for sale. The censorship
4760-433: The content in question is added to a blocklist of banned URLs. This list of banned Web pages is then added to filtering software (encrypted), which must be offered to all consumers by their Internet service providers. In March 2009, this blocklist was leaked online. A number of take down notices have been issued to some Australian-hosted websites. According to Electronic Frontiers Australia in at least one documented case,
4845-628: The country passed an amendment which will allow the court-ordered censorship of websites deemed to primarily facilitate copyright infringement . In December 2016, the Federal Court of Australia ordered more than fifty ISPs to censor 5 sites that infringe on the Copyright Act after rights holders, Roadshow Films, Foxtel, Disney, Paramount, Columbia and the 20th Century Fox companies filed a lawsuit. The sites barred include The Pirate Bay , Torrentz , TorrentHound, IsoHunt and SolarMovie. In April 2019,
4930-512: The court-ordered censorship of non-domestic websites whose primary purpose is to facilitate copyright infringement . In April 2019, the Senate passed this bill in response to the Christchurch mosque shooting , which was live-streamed and circulated online. It requires websites that provide a hosting service to "ensure the expeditious removal" of audio or visual material documenting "abhorrent violent conduct" (including terrorist acts, murder, attempted murder, torture, rape or kidnapping), produced by
5015-547: The difficulties with ISP-based filtering In March 2003, the Fairfax papers The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald reported the results of a survey taken by The Australia Institute of 200 children, which found that many of them had found pornography on the Internet. Over the next few days was a storm of media and political attention, and there were calls for finer Internet filters and tougher censorship laws. Analysis of
5100-711: The distribution of a draft code of practice for ISPs and their response to cybercrime . It has also warned against intellectual property clauses in free trade agreements between Australia and the United States. EFA was created in 1994. Its founders were inspired by the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), but EFA is not affiliated with the EFF. EFA is a founding member of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign . In June 1997,
5185-479: The domain stephenconroy.com.au was seized by auDA , somewhat ironically for an anti-censorship site, and content was then moved to stephen-conroy.com. The basis for seizure regarded the moral owner of the domain, not its content. On 22 May 2009, it was disclosed in the press, citing WikiLeaks , that the Australian Government had added Dr Philip Nitschke's online Peaceful Pill Handbook , which deals with
SECTION 60
#17328839182425270-480: The expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Provisions of Schedule 5 and Schedule 7 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 inserted in 1999 and 2007 allow the Australian Communications and Media Authority to effectively ban some content from being hosted within Australia. Under this regime, if a complaint is issued about material "broadcast" on the Internet the ACMA is allowed to examine
5355-435: The framework, each divided into two sub-streams, are outlined below along with the main functions of ACMA under each task. Bridging to the future – active engagement with the currents of change and proactive development of responses through thought leadership and regulatory development: Transforming the agency – adapting the organization to the changing world of convergence by ensuring a structural fit with convergence and
5440-535: The grounds that Whirlpool, a customer of Bulletproof Networks, posted a link to a blacklisted, anti-abortion web site. There was a controversy that the material hosted by Whirlpool was the response notification from ACMA stating that the website had been blacklisted (the notice included the address of the website that had been blacklisted). On 19 March 2009 it was reported that the ACMA's blacklist of banned sites had been leaked online, and had been published by WikiLeaks . Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, obtained
5525-629: The hosting was merely shifted to a server in the United States, and the DNS records updated so that consumers may never have noticed the change. In 2006, the Federal Parliament passed the Suicide Related Materials Offences Act , which makes it illegal to use communications media such as the Internet to discuss the practical aspects of suicide . In June 2015, an amendment was passed to copyright law of Australia , which allows for
5610-591: The leaked blacklist published on WikiLeaks closely resembled the official blacklist, admitting that the latest list (dated 18 March) "seemed to be close" to ACMA's current blacklist. In an estimates hearing of the Australian Federal Government on 25 May 2009 it was revealed that the leak was taken so seriously that it was referred to the Australian Federal Police for investigation. It was further stated that distribution of further updates to
5695-506: The legislation would have required Internet service providers to censor access to such content for all users. However, the policy was rejected by the Coalition and was later withdrawn by the Labor party. The same day the withdrawal was announced, the then Communications Minister stated that as a result of notices to Australian ISPs, over 90% of Australians using Internet Services were going to have
5780-467: The list have been withheld until recipients can improve their security. Nerida O'Laughlin of the ACMA confirmed that the list has been reviewed and as of 30 April consists of 997 URLs. In 2021, Schedules 5 and 7 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 were repealed as part of the enactment of the Online Safety Act 2021 . This Act established the eSafety Commissioner (section 26) and, under part 3 of
5865-447: The list published on WikiLeaks and the ACMA blacklist were the same, saying "This is not the ACMA blacklist." He stated that the leaked list was alleged to be current on 6 August 2008 and contained 2,400 URLs, where the ACMA blacklist for the same date contained 1,061 URLs. He added that the ACMA advised that there were URLs on the leaked list that had never been the subject of a complaint or ACMA investigation, and had never been included on
5950-454: The list was not the real blacklist and described its leak and publication as "grossly irresponsible" and that it undermined efforts to improve "cyber safety". He said that ACMA was investigating the incident and considering a range of possible actions including referral to the Australian Federal Police , and that Australians involved in making the content available would be at "serious risk of criminal prosecution". Conroy initially denied that
6035-405: The material under the guidelines for film and video. The content is deemed to be "prohibited" where it is (or in ACMA's judgement likely would be): Where content is deemed to be prohibited, the ACMA is empowered to issue local sites with a takedown notice under which the content must be removed; failure to do so can result in fines of up to $ 11,000 per day. If the site is hosted outside Australia,
6120-579: The materials may face fines and jail time. Several ISPs had already voluntarily blocked websites related to footage of the Christchurch shooting before the bill had passed. A collection of both federal and state laws apply to Internet content in Australia. While the Australian constitution does not explicitly provide for freedom of speech or press, the High Court has held that a right to freedom of expression
6205-437: The problem of computers being compromised by the surreptitious installation of malicious software (malware). 'Malware' enables a computer to be controlled remotely for illegal and harmful activities without the owner's knowledge. Malware can: The Telecommunications Sector Security Reform (TSSR) commenced on 18 September 2018. TSSR introduces four new measures: In 2000, a legislative framework for online content regulation
6290-424: The proposed legislation attracted widespread protests and has since been postponed in favour of a national scheme. In 1997, following the previous Federal Government, the Liberal Party further commissioned inquiries into a variety of online censorship schemes, including self-imposed censorship by ISPs. By 1999, the then Federal Government attempted to introduce an Internet censorship regime. Some have pointed out it
6375-409: The report showed little new material, and only 2% of girls had admitted being exposed to pornography, while the figure for boys was 38%; such a difference between boys and girls would seem to indicate that inadvertent exposure was rare, contrary to the conclusions of the report. After the controversy died down, no new action resulted from the new report, media attention, or political speeches. In 2003,
6460-489: The scope of classification material. Queensland introduced similar legislation at the time, but a case of an ISP systems administrator showed it did not apply to online services when the judge ruled that the act did not apply. In 1996, the Labor Party of New South Wales State Government attempted to propose a standard Internet censorship legislation for all Australian States and Territories. The legislation would have made ISPs responsible for their customers' communications. But
6545-577: The time. Optus appeared to use IP blocks for 4chan and possibly other sites. Telstra took a similar approach. Most bans appeared to be lifted after several weeks, with 4chan and Voat bans extending longer. One source states that the Telstra bans lasted only "a few hours", but this does not agree with most online discussion. The telecom providers claimed to be acting independently and not under directive of government or law enforcement, which sparked some public controversy. Normally such censorship would be ordered by
6630-526: The topic of voluntary euthanasia , to the blocklist maintained by the Australian Communications & Media Authority used to filter web access to citizens of Australia. Euthanasia groups will hold seminars around Australia teaching how to evade the proposed filter using proxy servers and virtual networks . A spokeswoman for Senator Conroy said that euthanasia would not be targeted by the proposed web filter, however Stephen Conroy has previously stated that "while euthanasia remains illegal it will be captured by
6715-402: The view that "when encountering racist or hateful speech, the best remedy to be applied is generally more speech, not enforced silence." One of the reasons mentioned is that suppressing such content results in perception that the speaker must have something important to say, and "massively increased interest in what would otherwise be marginal ideas." In 2006, the EFA pushed against Cleanfeed ,
6800-589: Was amended further in 2007 by the Communications Legislation Amendment (Content Services) Act (2007) as Schedule 5 only applied to stored content made available over the Internet but did not apply easily to "ephemeral" content such as streamed material. A new schedule (schedule 7) was introduced to regulate this content consistently with the national classifications system. On 10 March 2009, the ACMA issued an "interim link-deletion notice" to Bulletproof Networks, an Australian web-hosting company, on
6885-453: Was carried out under the section 313 legislation, and censorship notices were sent to four or five ISPs on each occasion. In March 2019, several websites disseminating footage of the Christchurch mosque shooting were censored by major ISPs in Australia and New Zealand, including 4chan , 8chan , and LiveLeak ( see below ). On 2 September 2020, a woman was arrested in Ballarat for making
6970-517: Was designed to be consistent with the national classifications system (the Code and Classification Guidelines established by the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995). Through this mechanism of establishing what content is prohibited or possibly prohibited, ACMA effectively creates a "blacklist" of content to which Internet service providers must deny users access. This framework
7055-717: Was established by adding a new schedule (schedule 5) to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 . The Australian Broadcasting Authority was responsible for managing and enforcing the framework, and this responsibility passed to ACMA in 2005. The key element to the framework was the establishment of a complaints mechanism under Part 4 of the Schedule. Members of the public could complain to ACMA about offensive material online, ACMA could investigate, and then notify Internet service providers to prevent access to prohibited content. The framework also permitted ACMA to initiate an 'own-motion' investigation into potentially prohibited content. The framework
7140-508: Was no mechanism for a site operator to know they got onto the list or to request to be removed from it. Australia's Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy later blamed the addition of the dentist's website to the blacklist on the "Russian mob". Associate professor Bjorn Landfeldt of the University of Sydney said that the leaked list "constitutes a condensed encyclopedia of depravity and potentially very dangerous material". Stephen Conroy said
7225-422: Was to gain support from minority senators to assist with the sale of Telstra and introduction of GST , but as noted above, this censorship plan had been in development for several years. In 2001, CSIRO was commissioned to examine Internet content filtering. The report focused primarily on evaluating the effectiveness of client-side filtering schemes (which were generally ineffective), but also discussed some of
#241758