Call for code on Internet

Sydney
11 November 2001

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Call for code on Internet

By Marilyn Kerjean

New Internet censorship legislation to be introduced by the NSW Government is just one step in the right direction says Professor Peter Sheehan, vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University.

Although the new legislation is certainly worthwhile, a genuine industry code of practice is needed.

“It is (difficult) to protect minors from being exposed to Internet material which is offensive,” he says.

“Exposure to Internet material is so hard to control (but) I believe that children have to be protected, and that society must find a solution.”

Under the new laws, online material will be covered by the classification system, which applies to films, computer games and publications.

Corporations or individuals who supply or make available pornography or “excessively violent” content will be fined.

The maximum penalties will be $11,000 for individuals and $27,500 for corporations under the new state laws, which are in line with commonwealth legislation passed last year – the Federal Government’s Online Censorship Amendment.

“The use of penalties throws the onus of responsibility on to individuals and corporations who supply or make available the objectional material and that is a reasonable thing to do,” Prof Sheehan says.

“(But) I worry about any set of regulations that implicitly at least takes away the initiative from parents to confront the problem responsibly at a parent-management level.”

At present, the Federal Government regulates Internet service providers and content hosts; the Australian Broadcasting Authority can remove offending web pages.

NSW Attorney General Bob Debus says that “prohibiting the distribution of pornography and excessively violent material” will be the target of the new laws.

“Many children today have easy access to the Internet and, while this no doubt opens up countless new fields of knowledge to them, we must also take reasonable steps to safeguard them from exposure to offensive and disturbing material,” he said.

But Prof Sheehan says the proposed penalties alone are not enough.

For the supply of R-rated material, for example, the penalties for corporations are diminished by the profit the material would produce.