First laws dealing with censorship of offensive material on Internet

31/10/95

Australia's first censorship laws designed to deal with objectionable and restricted material on the Internet were introduced into the Western Australian Parliament today.

Attorney General and Minister responsible for censorship Cheryl Edwardes said the new laws were contained in the Censorship Bill 1995.

"The provisions in the Bill dealing with censorship of computer services are the first in the country and will be watched with interest by other State and Territory Governments," Mrs Edwardes said.

The laws are directed not only at the Internet but also at bulletin boards, E-mail and other services provided by on-line computer services as well as other regional and local computer networks.

"The Western Australian Government decided to proceed with legislation to meet current community expectations that there should be some regulation of the unacceptable aspects of such services," the Minister said.

"Clearly the Government is aware that any action which it takes is limited to people within WA and that much of what is available through the Internet, in particular, originates outside its jurisdiction.

"The Bill will make it an offence for a person to transmit, obtain possession of, demonstrate, advertise or request the transmission of, material which that person knows to be objectionable material, via a computer service."

Objectionable material is defined as material which would be refused classification if it were a publication.  Examples of this are child pornography, material which exhorts committing a crime such as rape and drug dealing.

The penalty for a person who knowingly distributes objectionable material is a fine up to $15,000 or 18 months' imprisonment.

For an organisation or corporate body the fine could be up to $75,000.

The provisions will primarily affect users of computer services.

Mrs Edwardes said service providers would not be affected unless they knew that information on their service was objectionable material and continued to allow it to be transmitted.

"The provisions will require service providers to respond to complaints from parents or others about objectionable material being provided through their service or risk prosecution," she said.

However, service providers will not be expected to know about all the material on their services.

Mrs Edwardes said the legislation would also make it an offence for a person to transmit or make available restricted material to a minor via a computer service.

These laws would allow for self-regulation by service providers through the development of codes of practice and the establishment of 'adults only' services.

Already the Western Australian Internet community was in the process of developing a code of practice.

"However, despite any legislation which is put in place, the ultimate responsibility for protecting minors must rest with parents and educational institutions," Mrs Edwardes said.

This can be done through physical supervision, control of access and use of filtering software programs.

"The content of computer services should not be required to be reduced to the level suitable for a five-year-old," the Minister said.

"It is the responsibility of parents, users and providers along with Government to ensure these information systems are suitable for our children."

Media contact: Diana Russell Coote 421 7777