Will your blog be banned?
Yes, the article’s a week old but it’s worth linking to. A post at “Somebody Think of the Children” raises the point that blogging in Australia could become quite a tricky issue if/when the government’s internet filtering software is fully implemented.
For starters, blogs are often written in a casual tone and the odd swear word isn’t uncommon, nor is the use of slang words. No doubt one or two of us have written ‘boobs’ instead of ‘breasts.’ It’s how we speak. Unlike a company’s website where content often remains dry and stale, blogs are full of broad and erratic vocabulary.
Secondly, most of us don’t just blog about one topic, we blog about everything and we do it daily. The more diverse our content, the bigger the risk an ISP filter will incorrectly identify one of our posts and ban us.
Think of how many bloggers posted about the Bill Henson debacle that never usually touched such issues. Pet blogs, gardening blogs, everyone was have their say.
Ever posted about any controversial topic surrounding sex, morality, violence or drugs? You could be accidentally blocked.
Thanks for linking to that post, Sam. I have tended to think of the filtering scheme largely as a monumental waste of time and money – both of which are treated as infinite resources when it comes to protecting the kids.
I was going to say that this makes me see the glass as half-empty, except that I really don’t see anything that counts toward filling it.
It is a colossal waste of time and money, no doubt about it. Why aren’t we protecting our kids from living in a world where farms can’t grow crops, heat waves are the norm and beachside suburbs are under a few metres of water?
If this government was serious about making the world a better place for our kids, we’d be tackling climate change with the urgency it demands.
Hope so. It could do with the exposure. Or is that an inappropriate word? Already use teachertube.com for videos because bureaucracy blocks youtube. We might have to learn from the Chinese dissidents about how to get around big brother.
I think it will be very hard for individual blogs to encourage people to “opt out” of the mandatory clean feed. The news corporations have enough clout to be able to force the goverment to ensure that their websites are never blocked, but the blogs don’t have that sort of power. I’m sure the mainstream media wouldn’t be giving blogs a hand, either, given their antagonism towards genuine blogging/citizen journalism.
I can imagine places like Blogspot and WordPress being blocked because of one or two sites which may be hosting inappropriate content (in violation of the terms of use, of course).