Censorship .... and the Internet !

Ominous noises circulating in political circles. A case seems to be building to justify censoring what can be seen on the Internet.

Of course such an idea will be carefully hidden in what seems a just cause. Child pornography is the emotive issue thought to sway even civil liberty people into accepting the unacceptable !

There is no doubt that some sordid examples of children subjected to sexual exploitation can be accessed on the Internet by the tap of a key and the click of a mouse. There is no argument5 that most people would be apalled if their children were viewing such filth.

This is where the subject becomes opaque. There is a huge difference between the right of a parent to install a filter to prevent child access to objectionable material - and the right of the government to block access to sites it considers should be quarantined from ordinary citizens.

The stalking horse seems to be euthenasia.

Every Australian has the right to bring about their own death - and many terminate the pain and misery of a terminal illness in that way. What is illegal is for another person to help bring about that death.

There are suggestions that information on how to achieve euthenasia should be banned from the Internet.

Many years ago a book titled " Exit " was the first do-it-yourself suicide manual on that subject - and it was temporarily a banned import into this country. Appeals quickly overturned that ban and ever since euthenasia has been studiously avoided by politicians. A brief legalisation in the Northern Territory was overturned by the Federal government.

Now that old adversary - the churches - are behind this suggestion. It was thought that a ban on child pornography would disarm opponents and that euthenasia could open the censorship door a crack - but once the wall is breached a tsunami of censorship is possible.

The suggestion seems to be political kite flying - and there is every chance that it will get it's tail feathers shot off ! It is one thing to make emotive appeals through the letters columns in newspapers - and quite another to get a censorship bill through parliament.

When push comes to shove - that is where the politicians will have to stand and be counted - and it is clear that the public sentiment favours an uncensored Internet !