Australia

ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: June 29, 2012
In response to protests over recent austerity measures that began last week, the Sudanese government has attempted to choke the press by arresting journalists and censoring news sources. Even as online media is being used to circumvent censorship measures, activists who...
ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: July 8th, 2011
Every week, the OpenNet Initiative provides a weekly news roundup (dubbed "Threats to the Open Net") in addition to our usual in-depth blog posts. If you would like to subscribe to the RSS feed for our newsreel, our entire blog,...
ONI Blog: Australian Filtering Goes Live, "Trivial" to Bypass
Last week, our friends over at Herdict reported on the proposed ISP-level censorship in Australia. The plan, released by Telstra and Optus (two major ISPs), aims to protect Australian citizens by blocking child pornography and child exploitation sites...
ONI Blog: Australian Prime Minister Backs Web Filtering
The AFP recently reported that Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has begun actively pushing to filter Australia’s Internet content. According to news sources, the filter would block websites that contain rape, bestiality, and child sex abuse. Included in the plan...
ONI Blog: Would Censoring the Internet Prevent Cyber-Bullying?
Playing out in the Internet tabloids this week is the story of Jessi Slaughter, an eleven-year-old girl whose YouTube rants have resulted in death threats and unsavory rumors in a classic case of cyber-bullying. In Australia, where a proposal to filter the...
ONI Blog: Is Blocking RapeLay the Solution?
Controversy is brewing over a Japanese video game called RapeLay which, according to Australia's Sydney Morning Herald, allows users to "earn points for acts of sexual violence, including following girls on commuter trains, raping virgins and their mothers, and then forcing...
ONI Blog: More than half a billion Internet users are being filtered worldwide
The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) has been monitoring Internet filtering around the world since 2002. Currently, more than 40 countries are filtering the Internet to varying degrees, while a number of others, including Australia, Iraq, and Spain, are considering enacting filtering policies....
ONI Blog: Australian Activists Fight Filter on Twitter
As celebrated today on iTWire, Australian and international activists are fighting Australia's impending filtering policy on Twitter. Users opposing the filter are using the hashtag #nocleanfeed to disseminate information, and to fight against the filter. One such user,...
ONI Blog: Errors in Australia's Filtering Regime
Based partially on a top-secret blacklist of websites, Australia’s program of Internet filtration is still in full force. Government censorship recently resurfaced in the media when Australia’s Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, admitted that certain images were added to the blacklist in...

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