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Australia Chooses Education Over Filtering

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-about-the-children dept.

riprjak writes "The Australian federal government has rejected a call for Internet filtering to 'protect' Australians from child pornography and has opted instead to undertake an education and information campaign to teach parents about the perils of the Internet."

8 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. Re:State of Shock by SenseiLeNoir · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A very sensible move by the Australian government. However, I do hope it also applies to their "number 1" telco, Telstra and their BigPond (aka Big Pong) ISP who did indeed filter a particular site recently.

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    Have a nice day!
  2. In the spirit of Fark.com threads... by Buran · · Score: 3, Insightful

    [HERO]

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    i am a soviet space shuttle
  3. This seems really smart by Dancin_Santa · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Unless you consider that kids still have access to the pornography and no amount of "education" is really going to block them or persuade them from accessing it.

    It's like those billboards that tell you that "God is Protecting You". It only reaches those who want to be reached.

    1. Re:This seems really smart by sinewalker · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Um, isn't the issue that:
      a) the children who are the subject of child-porn are the main victims.
      b) banning such content from viewing in Australia does nothing for the poor children photographed oversees in the first place (the proposal was to filter out kid porn from outside Aust).
      c) "what about the children viewing the porn?" Yes indeed. And what about the other offensive things they view, like adult porn, or bestiality, or planes flying into tall buildings, or.... where is the line drawn?

      Filtering is not an answer. Education, while only reaching those who's mind-share you already have, is probably the only sensible solution, and it only addresses item c. Unforturnately nothing can be done about a or b. Directly. In fact by filtering it out, you lose the opportunity to catch the adult consumers of the content, and hense lose a lead back to the perpetrators of a...

      I think that lead is worth keeping.

      --
      “Our opponent is an alien starship packed with nuclear bombs. We have a protractor.” — Neal Stepnenso
    2. Re:This seems really smart by Anne+Honime · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Unless you consider that kids still have access to the pornography and no amount of "education" is really going to block them or persuade them from accessing it.

      We've go a saying for this : a child who tumble inadvertantly over porn is not enough overlooked by the adult in charge of him, and that's the adult responsability ; a child who finds porn after looking for it is not a child anymore.

  4. Re:State of Shock by Sime208 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What a breath of fresh air reading what Australia will do.

    Trying to plug the hole that is child Internet porn would be an ongoing battle swallowing much time and resource better spent elsewhere. Sure the majority don't want to see it and have no interest in it spreading, but trying to stop it is like trying to stop the use of drugs. If people want it, they'll get it. I'd rather my tax dollars went into dealing with it at the source.

    It also means the Government won't be submerged in requests of other anti- groups to stop whatever else they decide doesn't take their fancy.

  5. The biggest threat by leereyno · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've always believed, even as a child, that the biggest threat to children are their elders.

    I know I for one never appreciated being lied to and manipulated, both of which largely define the relationship between the young and old.

    One of the questions we commonly hear asked is what advice we would give to someone younger than us, what do we know now that we wished we'd known growing up.

    Well my advice for the children of the world is this: Don't believe what people tell you, especially your parents. Keep your own counsel and take everything with a grain of salt. Just because someone loves you don't mean they won't lie to you, and it most definitely doesn't preclude their being crazy, stupid, ignorant, or some combination of all three.

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    Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
  6. Which just proves by Paddo_Aus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "One can't solve a sociological problem with a technological solution." - Edwards Law