Simpsons and filters signal new era of Internet McCarthyism

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 10 December 2008 14:14

Opinion and Analysis

Some worrying signs concerning our basic freedoms have begun to emerge throughout the free world, with the UK and Australia at the forefront of a disturbing trend to censor the Internet. Two recent events indicate an erosion of our rights as citizens within a free society.

Before we go any further, I feel compelled in the current climate of Internet McCarthyism to insert a disclaimer. As a parent and concerned citizen, I find child pornography repugnant and believe that any perpetrator of it should be dealt with mercilessly by the law.

That said, organisations and persons who whip up unnecessary hysteria to support their cause and who falsely label opponents as supporters of child pornography are to be condemned. Likewise, pinning a child pornography charge on a person who is at most guilty of a far lesser crime is outrageous. Both these occurrences serve to diminish our hard won freedoms.

At present, in Australia we have a Communications Minister in our Federal Government who is hell bent on trying to censor the Internet at the ISP level by forcing them to use content filters.

Despite the fact that the move has been almost universally lambasted as technically not feasible, ineffective in its aims and an unnecessary burden on Internet traffic, the Minister has simply labelled his critics as supporters of child pornography. Whether this is all "part of the act" to seem stern is yet to be seen, with those opposing blanket ISP filtration certainly hoping so.

This week an incident in the UK has served to highlight the dangers and folly of selectively imposing Internet filters - mandatory or otherwise - at the ISP level.

In 1976, German rock band, Scorpions, released an album called Virgin Killer. The provocative title (although the song was simply about the passing of time) was accompanied by an even more provocative album cover photo of a young naked girl. At the time, the photo, an idea dreamed up by the record company (and not the band members themselves), caused a stir and was subsequently withdrawn and replaced by a pic of the band.

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