A hearing before the Australian senate brought discussion about the proposed filtering system. The first tier would ban all outright illegal content, such as gambling websites or child pornography.
But it's the second filtering tier that really worries free-speech advocates. If enacted, the second tier would expand Internet censorship in Australia well beyond illegal material to include regular pornography. Citizens could opt out of the second tier, which would be voluntary.
But even that wouldn't be enough for a senator with a minor, socially conservative Australian political party. Steve Fielding, a senator with the Family First party,
"Family First would consider a mandatory ISP-based filtering system that protects children by blocking illegal content like child pornography, but allows adults to opt out of filtering to access material classified R18+ [Australia's equivalent to an R rating] or less," Fielding's spokeswoman said.
Such a measure would mean that all content classified under Australia's X-rating, X18+, would be banned for everyone, even adults. In addition, Fielding's plan would also ban all content that falls into a separate category called "refused classification," or RC. Content in the RC category includes movies that depict drug use or sexual fetishes.
But despite the senator's zeal, many in Australia remain unconvinced that such measures are necessary. Electronic Frontiers Australia, a lobbying organization that represents Internet users, criticized the proposed filtering system.
"Any group with an axe to grind and political clout will be lobbying the government to blacklist websites which they object to," spokesman Dale Clapperton said. "Having all Australians' Internet access subject to a secret and unaccountable government blacklist is completely unacceptable in a liberal democracy such as Australia."