Australia to Adopt Internet Censorship
New laws to tighten rules for content providers on Jan. 20.
By: Bianca Fox
Posted: 12/26/2007
CANBERRA, Australia - In an effort to stop children from viewing unsuitable
material on the Internet, the Australian Communications and Media Authority will
enact new laws on January 20 to place restrictions on chat rooms, websites and
mobile-phone content.
The new laws will impose tougher rules for companies
that sell entertainment-related content on subscription websites and mobile
phones. Providers of live services such as chat rooms also will be required to
have their services professionally assessed to determine whether their "likely
content" should be restricted.
Content providers will be required to check
that people accessing content rated MA15-plus are at least 15 years old and
those accessing content rated R18-plus and X18-plus are at least 18.
The new laws will enable the ACMA to force
content providers to remove offensive material, stop live content and delete links
to the content.
ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman said adults will
not be affected by the new laws.
"In developing these new content rules,
ACMA was guided by its disposition to allow adults to continue to read, hear
and see what they want, while protecting children from exposure to inappropriate
content, regardless of the delivery mechanism," he said.
Personal email and other private
communications are excluded from the new laws.
