Joining the growing number of industry and community groups expressing concern over the federal government's proposed Internet censorship regime, the Australian Council for Lesbian and Gay Rights (ACLGR) has released a statement criticising the bill.
Through a submission made to the Senate Select committee on Information Technology, the Council argued that homosexual organisations on the Web are likely to be targeted by any legislative attempts to censor the Internet. The report points out that software filtering on the Web often blocks gay or lesbian sites that contain valuable health information and support services.
A spokesperson for the ACLGR, Jennifer Wilson, said that while the government was encouraging the use of the Internet, the moves would inhibit the usefulness of the net for young people in particular.
"We are deliberately encouraging teenagers to make the Internet a major information source, especially in schools. It is untenable that especially vulnerable lesbian and gay young people, who have been shown to be at high risk from suicide, are often unable to get online help", Wilson noted.
While the Council is critical of the government's legislation, it did note the importance of controlling Internet content, arguing for the importance of labelling regimes.
"ACLGR believes that some efforts can and should be made to block Internet content unsuitable for minors," Wilson stated.
"We suggested that voluntary labelling of material which is suitable and intended for children will provide a child-safe environment. This mirrored a previous recommendation of the Information Technologies Committee that an Australian labelling system be developed, but this was ignored in the government's bill."
The statement from the Gay community is another in a long line of community and industry organisations to speak out against the proposed legislation. Yesterday the Australian Library and Information Association released a statement critical of the proposed legislation.
