Opponents of the government's proposed internet filtering legislation face tough challenges, according to Peter Black, the recently appointed manager of Electronic Frontiers Australia's (EFA) anti-filter campaign.
Opponents of the government's proposed internet
filtering legislation face tough challenges, according to Peter
Black, the recently appointed manager of Electronic Frontiers
Australia's (EFA) anti-filter campaign.
There's no doubt it'll be quite hard to get the government to
change their mind
EFA campaign manager Peter Black
The groups lobbying against the filter need to gain mainstream
awareness of the issue and either convince the government to modify
its legislation or persuade the Liberal and Greens parties to vote
against it in the Senate, he told ZDNet.com.au this week.
"There's no doubt it'll be quite hard to get the government to
change their mind," he said. "There's been a lot invested by
Senator Conroy and the Rudd Government in this policy. One way is
to try and get the legislation blocked in the Senate with the
support of the Liberals and Greens. But we're also hoping to lobby
the government to make changes to their policy before it goes to
Parliament."
One approach EFA is considering is to encourage the government
to offer a voluntary filter, either as an opt-in service or
provided as standard with the ability for internet users to opt
out. "Ideally, we'd like to see no filter at all, but it may be down
the line we'll have to have a discussion about an opt-in or opt-out
filter," he said.
Labor Senator Kate Lundy yesterday told Crikey she was
lobbying within the party for an opt-out filter, describing it as
the least-worst option.
"When Tony Abbott became the leader of the Liberal party, he
said it's the job of the opposition to oppose. We'd like to see the
opposition oppose this policy which they've said before repeatedly
is a bad idea."
To succeed, the campaign also needs "a universal message" and to
"[get] the word out beyond the technology sector to mainstream, non
technology savvy Australians", Black said. EFA wants to "shift the
focus away from the 'no clean feed' slogan to a more positive
message not only on the flaws in the proposed filter but also
provides solutions to the Australian public", he told Crikey.
Black, a senior lecturer at the Queensland University of
Technology's School of Law, was appointed EFA's campaign manager
last week. He has previously conducted research and written journal
articles on media and internet regulation. He is a regular blogger, cricket fanatic and self-described
"obsessive-compulsive Twitterer".
There's quite a bit that's been planned for the new year and lots of activity going on behind the scenes
EFA campaign manager Peter Black
"They were looking for someone to manage the various online and
offline aspects of the campaign as well as to help with strategic
direction," he said.
"It is something I'm very passionate about and there's no
shortage of passion around this issue."
Despite this passion, a lack of coordination between groups has
reduced the effectiveness of the anti-filter campaign to date,
Black said.
"One of the things that I'm hoping to do ... is to become a
campaign hub for the activities and facilitate the communication
between the organisations," he explained. While Black admits the issue
has died down over the Christmas break, "a natural occurrence at
that time of the year", he believes the campaign will regain
momentum over the coming weeks. "There's quite a bit that's been
planned for the new year and lots of activity going on behind the
scenes," he said.
"There's the Great Australian Internet Blackout, that'll be in the last week
of January. There's been talk around petitions, television
commercials and online videos. By the end of the month, we'll see a
lot of these things moving out into the public."
