Against Internet Censorship
Don’t worry about the picture above. It’s a cause I’m supporting with fellow bloggers from around the world.
If you believe in the power of information via internet, then this post will definitely ring a bell in your head. Today I was pinged by Gavin Heation of “Servant of Chaos” via Twitter (tweet) about this recent development/news in Australia about Internet Censorship.
So, if you use Twitter, you may have noticed a bunch of people with an “X” across their mouths. This is a protest against the Australian Government’s plans to implement an internet content filter. This plan places a blanket of censorship across the internet which will, no doubt, have unforeseen consequences – and puts our access to information on a par with China and Iran.
Some of possible repercussions of this censorship are:
1. This will result in significantly lower connection speeds (in the order of 80%).
2. As the filters will rely on a “black list” provided by a government body, it opens the door to potential misuse or political interference.
3. And finally, right question asked by Gavin that “Is this perhaps a veiled attempt to “Control the Conversation” emanating from a growing and more vocal constituency via blogs and social media?”
Why am I supporting?
One of the reasons why I’m supporting such a cause even though it doesn’t impact us but if you think from a Global perspective then internet being a ubiquitous entity has its roots leading to Global innovation from millions of netizens residing across the world. So one country’s internet content filtering may affect the innovation cycle on a whole.
So what’s your take on this issue? What if India is next on the radar to propose mandatory filtering of content over the internet? Would love the hear from you folks!
Few Important links:
1. Stop the Australian Internet Filter
2. No clean feed - Internet Censorship in Australia
3. Australia’s compulsory internet filtering costly, ineffective
4. My Twitter profile Pic (in case if you are interested)
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October 30th, 2008 at
Awesome, Sampad. Thanks for the support!
October 30th, 2008 at
Appreciate it Gavin!
Even my Twitter profile picture with cross on my mouth have made quite some impact. Its all for a good cause and I hope it fructifies into something concrete and not some void attempt.
Best of luck for all your efforts!
—
Sampad
October 30th, 2008 at
Hi Sampad!
Good to see you doing something for the cause. This is definitely not in the interest of global community and should be withdrawn.
But I wonder if putting a cross on your/our twitter image will bother anyone who can do something?
Regards,
Praval
October 30th, 2008 at
Hi Praval
Wondering what made you think that a single cross on our face which is a sign of solidarity for the cause won’t budge those hard hitting law makers?
Infact that’s what we are trying! So if you also think that such a move by Australian Government is not correct, you can also be with us and spread the word.
—
Sampad
October 30th, 2008 at
If it’s gonna happen, it’ll happen. No one will give a shit about what a bunch of bloggers or Twitter users have to say. It’s just the way it is.
All I can say is: enjoy it while it lasts, guys!
October 30th, 2008 at
Well I will wait and watch whats happening here. But if you feel big brother is not already logging every thing you do you need to think twice.
If you really wanna see install peer guardian
http://www.filehippo.com/download_peerguardian/
Would love to see a link to some official aussi sites too
thanks
cheers
November 1st, 2008 at
What? That’s like North Korea style. Will blog about it as soon as my blog is back online.
November 1st, 2008 at
It’s not a question of whether or not something will make a difference or not. It’s a question of what you want.
My logic is, if enough twitter users show their solidarity with those in Australia who are against the move, it will count as something (at least to them).
And when (or if) some asstard does decide to move for Internet censorship in India his lawyers will quote other such cases from the world over. No country is an island. Think about it.
Most evils are born out of apathy. Not saying you should care even if you don’t want to. Just explaining why I care.
November 3rd, 2008 at
You post does not clearly state which internet filtering system you are referring to ,is it http://www.netalert.gov.au/ ?
now according to
http://mashable.com/2008/02/20/australian-government-on-their-internet-filters-we-failed/
“Australian government has officially declared their internet filtering program, which they started about a year ago as an attempt to protect kids from pornography, a complete failure.”
looking at the netalert site
i agree with their quote “comprehensive response to the needs of the Australian community in protecting their families online.” and it looks like it is optional. so i am not sure what servantofchaos.com is talking about in the first place.