Electronic Frontiers Australia

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Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.
AbbreviationEFA
FormationMay 1994;30 years ago (1994-05)
Type NGO
Registration no.101007096
Focus Digital rights
Area served
Australia
Key people
Lyndsey Jackson, Chair
Website www.efa.org.au

Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. (EFA) is a non-profit Australian national non-government organisation representing Internet users concerned with online liberties and rights. It has been vocal on the issue of Internet censorship in Australia. [1]

Contents

Its main objective is to protect and promote the civil liberties of users and operators of computer-based communications systems such as the Internet. It also advocates the amendment of laws and regulations in Australia and elsewhere which restrict free speech as well educating the community at large about the social, political, and civil-liberties issues involved in the use of computer-based communications systems. [1]

The organisation has warned against privacy invasions following the distribution of a draft code of practice for ISPs and their response to cybercrime. [2] It has also warned against intellectual property clauses in free trade agreements between Australia and the United States.

History

EFA was created in 1994. [1] Its founders were inspired by the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), [3] but EFA is not affiliated with the EFF. [4] EFA is a founding member of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign. [5]

In June 1997, the EFA acquired redacted copies of the Walsh Report under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, and released the redacted version on their site. [6] [7]

In 1999, the organisation moved against legislation aiming to filter internet pornography and other material deemed unfit for public consumption online that was pursued by politicians such as Brian Harradine. [8]

The EFA spoke out against the rulings in relation to convicted Holocaust denier Fredrick Töben and his Adelaide Institute, [9] taking the view that "when encountering racist or hateful speech, the best remedy to be applied is generally more speech, not enforced silence." [10] One of the reasons mentioned is that suppressing such content results in perception that the speaker must have something important to say, and "massively increased interest in what would otherwise be marginal ideas."

In 2006, the EFA pushed against Cleanfeed, a mandatory ISP level content filtration system proposed by Kim Beazley. [11] Internet filtering was later pursued by Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy. The EFA presented a petition against mandatory internet filtering with 19,000 signatures to the Australian Senate. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

An Internet filter is software that restricts or controls the content an Internet user is capable to access, especially when utilized to restrict material delivered over the Internet via the Web, Email, or other means. Such restrictions can be applied at various levels: a government can attempt to apply them nationwide, or they can, for example, be applied by an Internet service provider to its clients, by an employer to its personnel, by a school to its students, by a library to its visitors, by a parent to a child's computer, or by an individual user to their own computers. The motive is often to prevent access to content which the computer's owner(s) or other authorities may consider objectionable. When imposed without the consent of the user, content control can be characterised as a form of internet censorship. Some filter software includes time control functions that empowers parents to set the amount of time that child may spend accessing the Internet or playing games or other computer activities.

Certain subject-matter in Australia is subject to various forms of government censorship. These include matters of national security, judicial non-publication or suppression orders, defamation law, the federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), film and literature classification, and advertising restrictions.

Internet censorship in Australia is enforced by both the country's criminal law as well as voluntarily enacted by internet service providers. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a blocklist of overseas websites which is then provided for use in filtering software. The restrictions focus primarily on child pornography, sexual violence, and other illegal activities, compiled as a result of a consumer complaints process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Conroy</span> Australian former politician

Stephen Michael Conroy is an Australian former politician who was an Australian Labor Party member of the Senate from 1996 to 2016, representing the state of Victoria. He served as a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments. He resigned from the Senate in September 2016. He has since worked as a lobbyist, political commentator and football administrator.

Electronic Frontiers Georgia (EFGA) is a non-profit organization in the US state of Georgia focusing on issues related to cyber law and free speech. It was founded in 1995 by Tom Cross, Robert Costner, Chris Farris, and Robbie Honerkamp, primarily in response to the Communications Decency Act.

Cleanfeed is the name given to various privately administered ISP level content filtering systems operating in the United Kingdom and Canada, and as of May 2012 undergoing testing in Australia with a view to future mandatory implementation. These government-mandated programs originally attempted to block access to child pornography and abuse content located outside of the nation operating the filtering system.

Internet censorship in the United States is the suppression of information published or viewed on the Internet in the United States. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects freedom of speech and expression against federal, state, and local government censorship.

Internet censorship in the United Kingdom is conducted under a variety of laws, judicial processes, administrative regulations and voluntary arrangements. It is achieved by blocking access to sites as well as the use of laws that criminalise publication or possession of certain types of material. These include English defamation law, the Copyright law of the United Kingdom, regulations against incitement to terrorism and child pornography.

Censorship in Denmark has been prohibited since 1849 by the Constitution:

§ 77: Any person shall be at liberty to publish his ideas in print, in writing, and in speech, subject to his being held responsible in a court of law. Censorship and other preventive measures shall never again be introduced.

Information technology law, also known as information, communication and technology law or cyberlaw, concerns the juridical regulation of information technology, its possibilities and the consequences of its use, including computing, software coding, artificial intelligence, the internet and virtual worlds. The ICT field of law comprises elements of various branches of law, originating under various acts or statutes of parliaments, the common and continental law and international law. Some important areas it covers are information and data, communication, and information technology, both software and hardware and technical communications technology, including coding and protocols.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1990 to promote Internet civil liberties.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit advocacy and legal organization based in the United States and serves its operations worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of speech</span> Right to communicate ones opinions and ideas

Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognised as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law by the United Nations. Many countries have constitutional law that protects free speech. Terms like free speech, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression are used interchangeably in political discourse. However, in a legal sense, the freedom of expression includes any activity of seeking, receiving, and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Quadrature du Net</span> French digital-rights advocacy group

La Quadrature du Net is a French advocacy group that promotes digital rights and freedoms for its citizens. It advocates for French and European legislation to respect the founding principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge. La Quadrature du Net engages in public-policy debates concerning, for instance, freedom of speech, copyright, regulation of telecommunications and online privacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jillian York</span> American activist, journalist and travel writer (born 1982)

Jillian C. York is an American free-expression activist and author. She serves as Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and a founding member of Deep Lab. She is the author of Silicon Values: The Future of Free Speech Under Surveillance Capitalism and Morocco - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture.

Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas without restriction. Viewed as an integral component of a democratic society, intellectual freedom protects an individual's right to access, explore, consider, and express ideas and information as the basis for a self-governing, well-informed citizenry. Intellectual freedom comprises the bedrock for freedoms of expression, speech, and the press and relates to freedoms of information and the right to privacy.

The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 was a United States bill designed with the stated intention of increasing enforcement of laws related to the prosecution of child pornography and child sexual exploitation offenses. Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas), sponsor of H.R. 1981, stated that, "When investigators develop leads that might result in saving a child or apprehending a pedophile, their efforts should not be frustrated because vital records were destroyed simply because there was no requirement to retain them."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FISA Improvements Act</span>

The FISA Improvements Act is a proposed act by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Prompted by the disclosure of NSA surveillance by Edward Snowden, it would establish the surveillance program as legal, but impose some limitations on availability of the data. Opponents say the bill would codify warrantless access to many communications of American citizens for use by domestic law enforcement.

The Walsh Report was an Australian cryptography policy review undertaken for the Australian government by Gerard Walsh, initially released in 1996 and then withdrawn before its sale to the public. Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) obtained a redacted copy under freedom of information laws and published it on EFA's website. Subsequently, an unredacted copy was found and the redacted parts were added to the EFA copy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Bankston</span> American activist and attorney

Kevin Stuart Bankston is an American activist and attorney, who specialized in the areas of free speech and privacy law. He is currently Privacy Policy Director at Facebook, where he leads policy work on AI and emerging technologies. He was formerly the director of the Open Technology Institute (OTI) at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Green, Jonathon; Karolides, Nicholas J. (2005). Encyclopedia of Censorship . New York: Facts on File, Inc. p.  165. ISBN   1438110014 . Retrieved 22 June 2014. electronic frontiers australia.
  2. Giacomello, Giampiero (2004). National Governments and Control of the Internet: A Digital Challenge. Routledge. p. 61. ISBN   113432393X . Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  3. Allison, G. Burgess (1995). The lawyer's guide to the Internet . Section of Law Practice Management, American Bar Association. p.  257. ISBN   1570731497 . Retrieved 10 July 2014. electronic frontiers australia.
  4. Bowrey, Kathy (2005). Law and Internet Cultures . Cambridge University Press. p.  190. ISBN   0521600480 . Retrieved 16 June 2014. electronic frontiers australia.
  5. Wadsen, Wayne (1998). Cryptography and liberty: an international survey of encryption policy. Global Internet Liberty Campaign. p. 67. ISBN   9780788174537 . Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  6. "Cryptology: Law Enforcement & National Security vs. Privacy, Security & The Future of Commerce". cryptome.org.
  7. Cho, George (20 January 2023). Information Technology Law in Australia. Kluwer Law International B.V. ISBN   978-94-035-2536-5.
  8. Sandy, Geoffrey A (2001). "The Government "Downunder" Attempts To Censor the Net". In Salehnia, Ali (ed.). Ethical Issues of Information Systems. Idea Group Inc (IGI). p. 282. ISBN   1931777276 . Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  9. Jones v Toben [2000] HREOCA 39 (5 October 2000), Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (Australia).
  10. EFA Letter to HREOC, Oct 1998
  11. Walsh, Gabrielle (1 April 2006). "Labor's mandatory filtering pledge". Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  12. Liz Tay (22 June 2010). "Protest: 19,000 Australians petition against Internet filter". itnews. nextmedia. Retrieved 9 September 2016.