Internet Censorship Machine Quietly Revs up

KOMPAS.com - As Australia's biggest internet providers begin blocking an Interpol list of child abuse websites, the communications regulator is quietly compiling its own similar blacklist.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) confirmed it was building a list of URLs that “potentially contains child abuse material” and having them formally reviewed by the Classification Board. Sites on the blacklist have been categorised by the Board as “ACMA – ISP FILTERING”.

Optus, Telstra and Primus are among the internet service providers (ISPs) to have already committed to blocking child abuse content for their customers.

This filtering scheme – voluntary for ISPs but not users - is much milder than the mandatory filtering policy proposed by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, which the government has shelved but remains committed to.

Even before ACMA's blacklist is delivered, ISPs such as Telstra have been blocking Interpol's list of child abuse links since July 1. Whether they will take on ACMA's blacklist is still an open question.

“We continue to work with ACMA regarding the blocking of a list of child abuse sites it generates,” a Telstra spokeswoman said.

Optus said it was in the process of implementing blocks of Interpol's list for its customers but had not yet committed to filtering ACMA's list. Primus would not comment.

While ACMA's blacklist is separate to the Interpol list the government says it sees filtering the Interpol blacklist as just an “interim step” while ACMA's list is being prepared.

However, the Internet Industry Association (IIA) warned that blocking websites at ACMA's request – as opposed to Interpol's - could be seen as ISPs implementing the government's mandatory filters “through the backdoor”.

Anti-censorship lobbyists criticise any internet censorship efforts, arguing the sheer amount of content on the internet makes any attempts futile. A compromise scheme