Australia Gets Censored

A sad day for Australians.  The Federal Government recently announced that they will go ahead with plans to censor the nation’s internet following initial trials.  Filtering out a number of ‘blacklisted’ sites, the Government-funded trials weren’t found to slow Internet speeds, but many groups such as the Australian Greens Party and Electronic Frontiers Australia believe the results from the trial are misguided.

EFA spokesperson Colin Jacobs explains;

There are few surprises in this document.  Given the pilot’s modest goals, it was designed from the beginning to pass. Although it may address some technical issues, what it leaves out is far more important – exactly what will be blocked, who will decide, and why is it being attempted in the first place?

The plans will come into effect before the elections next year, banning several thousand refused-classification (RC) websites.