ladyfoxxx: (no clean feed)
ladyfoxxx ([personal profile] ladyfoxxx) wrote2010-01-27 12:13 pm
Entry tags:

Oh wonderful. They're going to "protect us" from Fandom.

Not sure if you're aware but the darling Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been bandying about the idea of filtering the internet in Australia for a while now. And it actually looks like it might even happen.

I, like every other free-thinking individual out there, am completely against is - I don't want my internet filtered, I know how to keep away from material I don't want to see and I never have children in my home who could use my internet and see something untoward.

I must admit it never occurred to me that the filter would affect slash. Until I read this article: Australia Set to Introduce Internet Filter that Could Block Access to Thousands of Anime, Comics, Gaming (ACG) and Slash Fan Sites by Mark McLelland of the University of Wollongong

If you can't be bothered reading the whole article, here are the headlines.

What is this filter thing?
In December 2009 the Australian government announced that it would be proceeding with legislation to introduce an ISP-level internet filter aimed at blocking access to material that would be 'refused classification' (RC) under the National Classification Scheme.

What are they going to filter?
In Australia child pornography legislation applies equally to 'fictional or imaginary characters', even in instances when such characters 'depart[..] from a realistic representation'. Given the ubiquity of such representations on both ACG and slash fan sites, it is easy for fans to stumble across material that would put them at the risk of prosecution.

The bottom line?
If the filter proposal becomes law, it could shut down Australian fans' engagement with broad and well-established international fandoms.

THIS MAKES ME VERY, VERY ANGRY.

You DO NOT come between me and my goddamn slash. YOU DO NOT.

Oh and you know what else is fun about the filter?
- They're putting the onus on the ISP's to administer it, so the internet, which is already pretty pricy in our sprawling nation, is gonna get more expensive, and SLOWER.
- It's not even going to protect children from everything harmful, because they're not going to filter X rated pornography, it's just gonna give parents a false sense of security
- The Banned Sites list will NOT be public. WTF?

WHAT THE FUCK PARENTS? MONTIOR YOUR DAMN CHILDREN ON THE INTERNET AND DON'T MAKE IT GOVERNMENT'S PROBLEM. THE GOVERNMENT IS BAD AT THIS KIND OF SHIT. THEY WILL GO BIG BROTHER ON YOU.

I'm not going to preach any more about this but if you are interested to learn more and/or do something click below.

No Clean Feed - Stop Internet Censorship in Australia
ext_399013: (no clean feed)

[identity profile] ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com 2010-01-27 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
No, not all slash sites - the stuff that is borderline is depictions of underage sex (eg. Harry Potter) and incest (eg. Supernatural). But the article's writer draws parallels between the way that they will choose which sites to filter (based on complaints to ACMA) and how the great LJ Strikethrough of 2007 was complaints-based also and a whole whack of sites went down based on keywords and ham-fisted criteria. It's very possible the same thing will happeni in Australia, but we wont get the re-instatement after.

Please don't take anything I say as gospel, but my interpretation of the article is that it is a very real possibility that large chunks of fandom will get cut off from Australia through this legislation. Obviously, we wont know for sure until it's put in place.

Even the possibility angers me though. The whole idea of filtering the internet gets me shaking with violent rage.

[identity profile] sunhawk.livejournal.com 2010-01-27 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Honestly, I'm a bit wary of the way these rumours tend to snowball into this towering rage without anything happening yet. Like the Strikethrough incident, the number of people who have their fics complained about seems to be very low.

I'm all for awareness and being politically active and involved in any legislative acts. AND I'm in general not a fan of filtering the Internet either, at least on such a grand scale. Parents are ok to set up safety filters for kids but I am also leery of governments setting up what essentially amounts to "good taste" filters.

I don't think these kinds of proposed laws are meant to be about slash fic at all, I think they are meant to cover when actual pedophiles verbally document their terrible acts and make it easier for the law to arrest them. I think incest and underage fics are just unfortunate in that they have a superficial similiarity, in that they meet those legal definitions. Intent is very important but also difficult to prove either way, again from a legal standpoint.
ext_399013: (no clean feed)

[identity profile] ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com 2010-01-28 10:22 am (UTC)(link)
You are right in that the laws are not targeting slash, but the looseness of the terminology in the legislation means that some slash sites could end up getting banned through the 'superficial similarity' of which you speak. Half the problem is that the government isn't actually going to employ researchers to find/check the sites to ban, it's going to rely solely on complaints-based reporting which we've seen in the past can be used by conservative right-wing groups to advance their own agendas.

I'm in no way saying that this is a definitive outcome. But I am angry about it. I am angry that we've been put in a position where this may happen. Even if the filter doesn't end up affecting my slash, it's still a filter, it's still the government immposing it's values (however well intentioned) on the nation. And that is the first step down a very slippery slope.