Tightening ‘Anti-Terrorism’ Censorship in Australia
by Anton Piatek
The prospective widening of Australia’s censorship laws to crackdown on material that advocates terrorism has alarmed civil society groups.
“The proposed changes raise fundamental problems by infringing on the right to free speech,” says Stephen Blanks, secretary of the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL).
A close friend ofmy parents is quoted in the article too!
tags:Alex Byrne, president of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), argues that the changes amount to a censoring of ideas. “They’re censoring political views which they believe may incite terrorism. In doing that they’re censoring views that they see as inimical to good order. That is political censorship,” he says.Byrne says that the current classification code is adequate and has produced good results. “Expanding the ambit, to what are in fact political issues, fundamentally changes the (classification code) regime and it’s a very dangerous step for us to take,” he argues.