Free speech on the Internet - but not too much, thanks

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 19 May 2010 05:49

IT Industry - Development

It seems that a considerable number of Australians think Big Brother is watching their Internet use - and they're not talking about Google.

While new research shows that five out of six Australians think people should be free to express their opinions on the Internet, a quarter of survey respondents are worried that the government is checking up on them.

According to the report 'The Internet in Australia' by Scott Ewing and Julian Thomas of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation at Swinburne University of Technology, Australians are overwhelmingly in favour of free speech and freedom to criticise their governments on the Internet, but equally strongly of a view that children's content should be restricted.

"So strongly do we uphold this view that a majority (51%) think it is OK to express extreme views on the internet. However 20 per cent disagree with this and 9 per cent disagree strongly," said Thomas.

Perhaps surprisingly, only 55% said that Australians should not have to be careful what they say about politics on the Internet. So much for a nation of larrikins?

Although there were some early hopes that the Internet would be a pro-democratic force, Australians are sceptical that it will increase their own influence on politics or on the attitudes of public officials.

What about controlling non-political content? Please read on.