Governement Censorship

[Mister Sandman]

In the Australian news it has been brought to the attion that the Government intends to censor and filter Australia's internet connection.
Thus, filtering pornography and other such websites.


This leads to the question:
When does the government have the right to censor the internet?

Does censorship remove/degrade human rights?

Why censorship?

If it is going to be censored how much of the internet is to be censored and why?

What are the downfalls to government censorship?


Should censorship go ahead?

[Kit-Fox]

haha, good luck with this thread.

You do realise dont you that pretty much everything you have read in the news or been taught at a school could be considered either :

A ) gov propaganda
B ) Material the censor approved, indicating there was more info that was held back

Take you pick whichever fits the scenario, but its been happening since the dawn of governments, they dont like information (whatever it be) getting around. The internet was a random anomoly in that govs ignored it and thought it was a flash in the pan until it was too late to control it. Now they have realised what it is & can do they are desperate to put in place controls and restrictions.

For example there was the recent incident with Wiki & the UK's Internet Watch Foundation about the Virgin Killer record cover image. Another would be that now in countries like US/UK/AUS and most other western countries it is now considered an offence to possess materials that deal with explosives and how they are made/what they are made of, thats pretty much every chemistry book banned then.

basically censorship is here to stay, its unlikely we will see an end to it in our lifetimes and might as well get used to it.

[Cole]

Depends what is censored, of course.

[agapooka]

Wanting someone to censor something for you is admitting that you are too weak to enforce your own standards. Censoring is like promoting, even though they can be perceived as opposites. Essentially, my opinion (and this is one of the few things whereon I have a fairly strong opinion) is that nobody ought to be forced, directly or indirectly, to access and/or be barred of access to any given piece of information, except where the decision to withhold the information is made for privacy reasons by the individual or body of individuals to whom, it can be construed, the information belongs, unless withholding the information may protect the abuse of living beings. This definition of information encompasses sound, text and image, inclusively.

Yes, because I'm sick of billboards and advertisements, when all I want to do is be on the road with my eyes open. I could technically avoid the billboards, but because doing so is an even greater disadvantage to me, it can be said that I am indirectly forced to view them.

In terms of government censorship (as opposed to private censorship), the government in a republic is meant to belong to the people and, therefore, all are meant to have the right to know exactly what the government is up to. The founding fathers of the USA, for example, were afraid that the government would become irreparably corrupt if it were not kept in check. This is impossible to do thoroughly if the government can hide (censor) its actions.

[n3M351s]

China = censorship tyranny.

[Lord Yojimbo]

censorship has no right in this world on any occasion - a few warnings and viewers discression works best but like all humans in power - they want control so censorship will be here to stay altho we in the emerald isle escape this for the moment

[Kit-Fox]

censorship has no right in this world on any occasion - a few warnings and viewers discression works best but like all humans in power - they want control so censorship will be here to stay altho we in the emerald isle escape this for the moment

Dont be so naive as to assume you have escaped from the censor, you havent. Pretty much no one in the western world or even the eastern world has. Been in Eire doesnt mean things arent censored.

[[KMA]Avenger]

basically censorship is here to stay, its unlikely we will see an end to it in our lifetimes and might as well get used to it.

that's a very defeatist attitude to have, and VERY wrong for obvious reasons.

[Kit-Fox]

uh-huh and how exactly to you propose to stop governments from censoring material??

There isnt a way to stop it, so getting used to it is pretty much all we have left to do for the moment.

One day maybe it might stop and civilisation/society might become elightened but its unlikely we'll be around to see that

[Lord Yojimbo]

censorship has no right in this world on any occasion - a few warnings and viewers discression works best but like all humans in power - they want control so censorship will be here to stay altho we in the emerald isle escape this for the moment

Dont be so naive as to assume you have escaped from the censor, you havent. Pretty much no one in the western world or even the eastern world has. Been in Eire doesnt mean things arent censored.

Im not saying that we have escaped - far from it - especially when we have a major satillite tv contract with bSKYb in this country so even our goverment doesnt controll the censorship here - what i am sayin tho is that our goiverment as much as i dislike them have allowed our national broadcasters to go and do thier job without interference alot more so than any others in europe so whe have escaped it to a larger part than other nations - there is no doubt but still as with everything there is a certain amount.....I am lucky to live in a nation which is easier on its media than others

[Lord Yojimbo]

lets face it anyways - the europeans aint gonna start blocking satalite signals as of yet (we will leave that to the US ) and because of satalite tv - any multinational broadcasting corporotion can get its message one way or another - even thru ISPs which can based in other countries and routed through soi there are ways around - and with digital tv being streamed over broadband - this will open things up further however we cannot ever exercise ourselfs from the shakkles fully but we can try

[Brdavs]

UK= censorship oligarchy.

Fixd it for ya.

Wonder if they get wikipedia now-a-day heh...



But remember kids, not all government propaganda and indoctrination(mind control) is bad. For instance, in europe great care was given to educate new generations in a less "narrowminded" way, governments and forces behind the european integrations the puppetmasters of the "no hate thy neighbour" mantra... Result? 60+ years on the wagon and still going (sorta) strong:

Deutchland: "GuttenAbend, my name ist ze Germany and I am ze war addict."
France, GB, Austria, Italy etc: "Hello Germany."
GB: "I`m very sad to say this week that I`ve had a misshap.... I was seduced by my sponsor(US)... I did... a lil invasion/occupation. But I`m leaving now! Still determined to stay peacefull...
France, Austrie, Germany, Italy etc: "gasp! *tear* well.... Admiting that you have a problem is the first step, and being honest about your mistakes is the next one... We (still) love you GB!"

[Kit-Fox]

Oh on your bike, the majority of the UK hate the EU as well the US and for good reasons too given how much both of you want to rape us left right an centre and claim how great you all are for saving us.

Heres a newsflash we dont need saving and we're going fine atm. In fact we'd be going a great deal finer without EU/US interferance so hows about you all butt out of the greatest nation on earth for once

or put another way...

GB: 'Hi, I'd like you all to get the hell lost and leave me the alone, i didnt ask you to get involved in my business'

Anyways the UK doesnt censor a lot of the 'net as its just to much. Even china doesnt do it all and relies upon outdated & out moded methods that are easy to defeat with any kind of intelligence. Saying that tho they are certainly trying now. And pretty much everything else is censored by every gov across the world. Think about it do they want you to know how to make napalm safely in your own home?? of course they dont