Ash

Only a few months ago, during the olympics, there were many artivles about the internet restrictions in China and how bad it is. How can we adopt such a filtering system and not be hypocritical? Yes, children need to be protected but that need to start in the home with the parents. In a democratic society no one group's rights supercede any other group. Yes children have a right to be protected, but every person has a right to choose what lawful sites they visit. If instead of mandatory filtering that only the government has control of (like what we bag in China) the money was spent on education for parents so they can protect their children at home no group's rights would be infringed. How can Austalia have any valid voice in the world if we adopt a system that we label deplorable when another country uses it? No one is suggesting that unlawful sites shouldn't be taken down, but as long as a site in able to be lawfully viewed, there cannot be any mandatory restriction on that site. If parents were empowered to allow them to protect their children this wouldnt be an issue.