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Federal Government to establish cyber-safety committee
Feb 26 2010, 5:28One story that didn’t get a lot of media attention this week was the Government’s announcement that a Federal Parliamentary Committee was being set up to see how Australian children can be better protected from a wide range of cyber dangers. From IT News:
The Federal Government plans to establish a joint select committee to report on cyber-safety issues and ways to mitigate them.
The committee would comprise 12 members, of whom seven would be nominated by the Government, up to four by the Opposition, and the remainder by independents.
The committee will be asked to inquire into the online experience of Australian children, including cyber-bullying, exposure to illegal content and “inappropriate” social and health behaviours.
It would also review the prevalence, implications and risk of identity theft and breaches of privacy.
Cyber-safety measures such as education, filtering, regulation and enforcement would be reviewed to determine their effectiveness in Australia and internationally.
In addition, the committee was to investigate other relevant matters referred by the House of Representatives, Senate, or Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy.
The committee was proposed by Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Anthony Albanese and approved by the House of Representatives today.
The committee has been asked to present a final report by February 11, 2011.
Read it here.
We don’t think it will take very long for this Committee to realise that there are more effective, targeted ways to protect children online than an impractical and costly policy of Government censorship.
This because the filter will not target X-rated pornography, which most parents wouldn’t want their children to view. In addition, the filter will do nothing to protect children from what parents are really concerned about, things like cyber-bullying, online predators, viruses, spam or the identity theft. It might also provide a false sense of security to parents, reducing effective monitoring of their children’s online activities.
The Committee will discover that the biggest risks that children face online are not exposure to inappropriate content, but inappropriate contact with others. In order to protect children online, EFA would like to see:
- more education for parents about options for voluntary filtering for their computers, that can be tailored to allow a household to control their Internet content and
- more education for parents and children about the risks that children might face online, and what to do about them.
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March 6th 2010 National Day of Action against Mandatory National Internet Filter Update:
Stop the Filter Perth – No Internet Filter! Rally – Forrest Place 12 Noon
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=336217294950&ref=share
Stop the Filter Melbourne Rally – State Library 12 Noon
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=298307181198&ref=share
Block the Filter Adelaide – Cyber Safety Picnic – Victoria Sq (sth side) 12 Noon
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=322669307679
Block the Filter Sydney Cyber Safety Picnic – Parramatta Park 12 Noon
http://www.facebook.com/wall.php?id=289509485944
Block the Filter Perth – Cyber Safety Picnic – Stirling Gardens 3pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=354560685534
This is what happens when the government gets pushed by the people after coming up with a slap-dash "solution" that creates more problems than it solves. I hope the committee finishes its work before the legislation is finished in tabling. It might be one of those "whoops" laws that we're stuck with if everyone doesn't… sign the EFA petition and post a letter and call their local MP today.
P.S. Thanks Trish, an update for Parramatta Park is that it begins at 1pm
Can someone please explain why a Federal Parliamentary Committee is being set up to see how Australian children can be better protected from a wide range of cyber danger .. after Mr Rudd's draconian Internet filtering legislation is quite likely to have been implemented! His mantra ad nauseam is 'evidence based' policy – though we know Mr Rudd has simply shifted from 'evidence bereft' to 'evidence biased' policy now. So, we have Labor's Senator 'Saint Kate' Lundy crossing the floor and speaking out against mandatory filtering, plus a group of young Liberal senators, and finally one might have thought we were verging on injecting some sanity into this 'debate'. So much for an opportunity to weigh up the evidence. We end up with a 'joint select committee' made up primarily of Labor bureaucrats, after Mr Rudd's Internet filter is in place. Is this an episode of 'Yes Minister', or what? Again, this is the time that it is imperative that we send emails to our MPs. Please write to: Senator Julie Bishop – [email protected] + Tony Abbott [email protected] + Independent Senator Nick Xenephon [email protected]. As to Senator Kate Lundy, please thank her, and state that you appreciate that her input is a vast improvement on mandatory measures, urging her to fight her party members tooth and nail on mandatory filtering – do emphasise that you will ONLY accept a voluntary 'opt-in' platform. Send her your letters here: http://www.katelundy.com.au/contact/
If you get a chance to read the posting about Labor's Pedophile 'Honeypot' on my Face Book profile, I'll warrant you'll then also email all your friends who have kids and get them clued-in too. It used to be the case that pedophiles were attracted to kids, but Mr Rudd's idiot scheme means that it's the kids that will be attracted to the perverts. Ironic, hey? BTW, Kevin is 100% aware of this – but simply too darned busy electioneering to evangelical Christian groups to trifle with such inconsequential fluff. Thanks to all of you who are keeping the pressure on our elected polititians. As the EFA writer says, "The Committee will discover that the biggest risks that children face online are not exposure to inappropriate content, but inappropriate contact with others."