The South Australian Parliament is due to vote next week on a law
that would criminalise the provision to adults of material deemed
unsuitable for children. The maximum penalty would be $10,000, even
if the material is in a password protected section of a web site.
According to Electronic Frontiers Australia, an internet civil
liberties group, the draft law provides that "Matter unsuitable for
minors" is content that is, or would be, given a
Restricted or “R” rating by a majority decision of the members of
the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC)
under guidelines designed for classifying cinema films and
videos.
The EFA says that according to the OFLC Annual Reports, the vast
majority of R films are so classified because they deal with social
and political issues, referred to in the Classification Guidelines
as "adult themes". Adult themes include: "verbal references to and
depictions associated with issues such as suicide, crime,
corruption, marital problems, emotional trauma, drug and alcohol
dependency, death and serious illness, racism, religious
issues".
Removal of the content is no defence under the legislation, says
the EFA; material just has to appear for the offence to be
committed, although ISPs are not responsible for material that
appears without their knowledge.
The EFA is calling for concerned parties to object to members of
the South Australian Parliament. Its web site can be found at
www.efa.org.au.
