Category: Censorship

Internet and print/written media censorship, obstructions to freedom of speech. Internet filtering.

Pirate Party Salutes UN For Recognising Internet As Fundamental Right

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On May 16 a special report was made to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly by the the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue.[1]

“The Pirate Party Australia supports the UN Special Rapporteur’s report into the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. It is high time that the rights of individuals were taken into account in the online world. The report is a thorough investigation into the limitations being imposed by many nations onto the free expression of their citizens,” said Pirate Party Acting Secretary Simon Frew.

“Notably, Mr La Rue declared access to the Internet a fundamental right. Countries like France, New Zealand and Britain, which have passed ‘3 Strikes’ laws are condemned for passing draconian laws that disconnect people after they have been reported for file sharing. What is especially worrying is that this bypasses due process and relies on the copyright holders word that something they own the rights to has been illegally shared. Similar measures have been campaigned for by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) here. The rule of law should never be abandoned to protect failing business models, no matter how much money movie studios and record labels donate to major political parties around the world.” he said.

“Governments too readily use the new platform to institute wholesale monitoring of their citizens, such as the data retention regime, part of the EU Cybercrime Convention which is currently under consideration in Australia by the Gillard government.” Mr Frew continued. “This report sheds light on this and pursues an agenda of mirroring the same expectations of privacy that is expected in the real world.”

“Further, we support calls for greater freedom of speech. This is not just criticising oppressive regimes, where the internet has been completely switched off during times of unrest, but is also directed at western defamation laws such as the British ‘Super Injunction’ which has been widely discredited through the whole Ryan Giggs affair,” Mr Frew said.

“This report stands in stark contrast with the agenda being pursued by the likes of Sarkozy at the eG8, which was intent of making the internet safe for the old media and government spindoctors, by attacking the rights of citizens online,” he concluded.

[1] http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/17session/A.HRC.17.27_en.pdf

Pirate Party Australia Defends Wikileaks

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[PDF Version]

The Obama Administration is calling for its allies, including our own government, to investigate and charge Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for leaking the Afghan War Diaries.[1] Pirate Party Australia calls for the Federal government to reject this attempt to silence one of the greatest defenders of freedom and democracy this country has produced.

Pirate Party activist Simon Frew said “It is unfortunate that a nation such as the United States, with such a pretense for defending freedom has fallen so far as to be calling for a global man-hunt of Mr Assange for leaking information about the conduct of the war in Afghanistan. The leak shows a systematic attempt to cover up every bad turn in the war and to keep the citizens of the countries involved in the dark about what is happening.”

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Filter Delayed, Not Dead

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[PDF Version]

“The move to postpone mandatory Internet censorship legislation by the Labor government is testament to the unpopularity of the legislation.[1] However it in no way represents a victory for the Open Internet campaign with Senator Conroy’s spokeperson maintaining that the government remains steadfast in their goal to push through legislation that will create a state sponsored Internet censorship infrastructure” said Party Secretary, Rodney Serkowski.

He continued “This delay is a cynical move to minimise the effect that this terrible, misguided and ill-conceived policy will have in the polls. We plan to continue to raise awareness, and remind voters of the intent of the Labor government to pursue this policy. Politicians must understand that attempting to implement a censorship infrastructure of the nature proposed in a liberal democracy is electoral poison.”

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Activistsʼ Action Against Censorship Not Just A Gag

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At 5:30PM on April 1st, Activists protesting against the Rudd Government’s proposed Mandatory Internet Filter will gather in Hyde Park Sydney to speak out against Government Censorship.

One of the organisers of the protest and member of Pirate Party Australia, Simon Frew, said. “I think it is outrageous that the government has the audacity to force this filter on a supposedly free society. This is the sort of censorship you would expect of China or Iran, and it is being roundly condemned by the US State Department and Google for good reason.”

“Adding Wikileaks to the blacklist is a good example of how the Rudd government can and will abuse its power for its own political agenda.” Mr Frew continued. “Once censorship infrastructure is in place, it could easily be expanded to cover other politically sensitive material by successive governments. This needs to be stopped before it is started.”

“Our plan for the action is to take part in distributed street theatre. We will be fanning out across the city, wearing gags to symbolise being censored. Each group of people being censored will be accompanied by a ‘normal’ person who will distribute information leaflets to the public.”

“The idea for this action is to bring attention to how censorship is going to affect our lives once the Mandatory Internet Filter is in place. Hopefully some people will end up with a flyer in their hand and their interest sparked.” Mr Frew said. “We hope to create an action that is fun for the participants, as well as a bit of a spectacle that gets people talking.”

An Open Letter To Tony Smith, The Shadow Minister For Broadband, Communications And The Digital Economy

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26 March, 2010

Dear Minister,

My name is David Gaetjens. I am the Vice President of Pirate Party Australia. I have read the “Update on Labor’s mandatory web filter plan” article on your blog and I am interested in further clarification. Although you have voiced an opinion on various censorship issues, you seem to have stopped short of saying how Liberal intends to vote on such issues, if and when legislation is presented.

Could you please answer the following questions so that we, and the electorate, may understand your party’s policies?

* What is the Liberal Party’s policy on Mandatory Internet Filtering?

* How will you vote if mandatory filter legislation is introduced?

* How will you vote if opt-out filter legislation is introduced?

* How will you vote if opt-in filter legislation is introduced?

* What is the Liberal Party’s policy on R18+ Classification for games?

Is the Liberal Party planning an independent review of the results of the filtering trials due to the controversy surrounding these results?

What alternatives to ISP-based internet filtering are the Liberal Party considering? Would an optional PC-based content filter, such as the one provided by the previous Coalition government be considered?

Thank you for taking the time to read our enquiries. I look forward to your considered reply at your earliest convenience. If you want to discuss these policies in greater detail, I would be more than happy to organise a meeting.

Kind Regards,

David Gaetjens
Vice President
Pirate Party Australia

Web: http://www.pirateparty.org.au/
Email: [email protected]