Is Australia Going to Filter Internet Casinos?

December 16, 2009 | News Category: Gaming Law

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The Australian government has been looking into placing mandatory censorship on the Internet in order to block sites such as pornography, and of course, online gambling. Discussion on this issue has recently ended up back in the public forum since a government member said that the censorship program will be implemented next year.

Although there has been much media criticism regarding mandatory Internet filtering being placed on Internet service providers, as well as a public backlash, after the news broke, the government seems set on continuing in this direction.

Minister Stephen Conroy, the Communications Minister said that the testing of the system has been completed, and that it now works well enough that the filters can be put in place. It is possible, and somewhat probably that the filters will not only block online gambling and pornography, but other sites as well, depending on what the government’s censors decide.

A spokesperson for the Internet industry has noted that these filters will cause operating speeds to be reduced for Internet users, while there is still a good chance that all the ‘inappropriate’ content may not be blocked, and it is also likely that content that should not be blocked may well be filtered out by mistake. This means that users may not always have access to legitimate websites.

It is concerning that a country like Australia, very much a part of the western world, is considering the mandatory blockage of numerous Internet sites. Censorship such as this is similar to moves taken by China, Egypt and Iran, all countries where personal freedom is not highly prized.

The Electronic Frontiers Australia website noted, "We’re yet to hear a sensible explanation of what this policy is for, who it will help, and why it is worth spending so much taxpayers’ money on."

Somewhat concerning is that the list of sites that will be banned is to be kept secret, as are the rules that define what criteria are used to block or allow sites through the filter. The blacklist will be decided on by the government censors, who will also monitor public complaints systems in order to be guided in their decisions.

The actual filtering system has already shown that it was vulnerable during testing. The government study showed that Internet users above a certain level of competence had no problem circumventing the filter the secondary, voluntary, level of testing showed that too much blocking of legitimate sites was done, and that around 1 in 6 sites that should have been blocked found their way though the filter on testing.