Common sense Aussies should be outraged by the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) heavy handed ultimatum that’s forcing Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) to remove a link to an abortion site from their blog.
A deletion notice was issued to the EFA stating that if they did not to remove the respective link by 6pm on the following business day they would face $11,000 in fines per day as a consequence. The ACMA ruled that the content on the website was R18+ prohibited content.
A representative of the EFA ‘Colin Jacobs’ said that Australians should be alarmed at this action considering the principles involved. He stated that the link is part of a political discussion about the merits of Internet censorship and that there was never any suggestion that the Australian Government would seek to block political content.
This action by the ACMA is sure to raise concern and argumentation over the legitimacy of what should be, and shouldn’t be classed as inappropriate content, especially if it has any political agenda.
