In a move that seems to be happening without comment from the Australian media, the Australian government is introducing a censorship regime ostensibly targeted at stopping teenagers accessing online porn.
But rather than being an opt-in system, it's "opt-out." I use the scare quotes because, and this is the most insidious part, you can't actually opt out - you can merely be placed on an alternative blacklist which, instead of blocking "content inappropriate for children," block any material deemed to be illegal.
The fact that it will likely reduce everyone's internet performance is secondary; It will most likely incorrectly block 1% of sites, and now what you are allowed to view online is determined and controlled by the state (although most likely quite inaccurately).
The rationale is that since they're setting it up anyway, they're morally obliged to block traffic deemed illegal:
"Illegal is illegal and if there is infrastructure in place to block it, then it will be required to be blocked — end of story."
I don't think I need to go into too much detail about the potential threat to our civil liberties.
People of Australia, please write to your MPs to voice your opposition to this.
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