Parliament’s Cyber-Safety Inquiry Finds Few Supporters of Labor’s Filter

Last Thursday’s Adelaide hearing of the Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety confirmed the clear trend: this inquiry finds very few witnesses in support of Labor’s mandatory internet filter.

Cyber-bullying researcher Professor Marilyn Campbell, asked if at-source filtering offered any benefits in relation to cyber-bullying, responded: “Not at all…I cannot see how you can stop me going on to Facebook and bullying somebody else by any type of filter.” 

A representative of the South Australian Office of Youth said they would not support filtering.

The Youth Affairs Council of South Australia took a similar position: “Anything that has the potential to block access to sites that are appropriate to support young people we would be cautious of.”

Representatives of the South Australian Catholic Education Office and the Catholic Principals Association, asked if they were calling for more internet filtering, declined to do so, noting there is already filtering in place at the school level.

Labor’s stated policy, announced at the 2007 election but yet to be implemented, is to provide a mandatory ‘clean feed’ internet service for all homes, schools and public computers.

Labor’s internet filter has few friends.  From parent groups to schools to youth bodies to internet professionals, the plan is criticised as unworkable, unnecessary and likely to significantly compromise the quality of internet services.

If Labor’s filter had any real support, you would expect witnesses to be turning up in droves before the cyber-safety committee calling for it.

In previous hearings – and again in Adelaide last week – we have heard the opposite.

At the 30 June 2010 hearing a Professor from the Queensland University of Technology said that internet filtering would not stop cyber-bulling, and a representative of the NSW Parents and Citizens Associations said: “To emphasise the last point, it is not the filtering. If you put the filtering in, the problem is not solved. The problem itself has to be dealt with.”

The Safer Internet Group told the Committee on 8 July: “The proposed mandatory internet filter will not work to keep Australian families safe online.”

The Internet Industry Association told the same hearing: “We do not think the option instead to move to a mandatory filtering alternative meets the level of protection that these PC based filters can achieve.”

These committee hearings have confirmed what we already knew: Labor’s mandatory internet filter is a policy disaster.

Media Contact - Darren Bark 02 9465 3950