/ 23 December 2008

Australia to test disputed internet filter

The Australian government said on Tuesday it would begin testing a pilot system next month to filter harmful information from the internet.

The Australian government said on Tuesday it would begin testing a pilot system next month to filter harmful information from the internet, amid criticism that any such plan would be a technical failure.

The government’s cyber safety policy aims to place a mandatory filter on the web to shield children in particular from accessing illegal and inappropriate material.

But internet user groups, the pornography industry and others have opposed the plan, saying any such measure would block access to some legitimate websites, slow down internet speeds and be impractical to enforce.

Stephen Conroy, minister for broadband, communications and the digital economy, said the government was aware of the technical concerns about the plan.

“And that is why we are conducting a pilot to put these claims to the test,” he said.

Conroy said the trial, which would be conducted by several internet service providers from mid-January, would provide evidence on the impact of content filtering.

Internet users lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia said the trial would likely show the government “that the technology just isn’t there to do what they want to do”.

“If they want to pursue the child-safe clean feed … it’s impossible to do it in a highly accurate way. Trying will slow down the internet,” spokesperson Colin Jacobs said.

Jacobs said he was concerned about the government introducing a secret blacklist of banned websites.

“We wouldn’t go so far as to say the government is going to implement something on the scale of the ‘Golden Shield’ in China and that they are going to crack down on political speech or anything like that,” he said. — AFP