It's official - Australia to get internet filter

The Australian government has decided to implement an internet filter, similar to China! A blacklist will be maintained of sites deemed unsavoury and Australians will not be allowed to visit those websites. Sure, this has one big advantage of preventing access to child porn websites or similar but that's about where the advantages stop.

Disadvantages

No more freedom of speech! The age-old right that every democracy has fought for, for centuries. You'll now have a government deciding on the nation's behalf what they should access and what not. Who is going to maintain the blacklist and ensure that legitimate sites don't get listed? Who will be making the decisions on behalf of the Australian citizens? This is truly a bad idea and even though there were widespread criticism of the proposed aussie filter, the project still got the green light to go ahead.

The fact that people with the technical skills will probably be able to bypass the internet filter is irrelevant, it does not change the fact that their freedom of speech will now be severely compromised as a nation. There's also the possibility that it will slow down general internet speed in Australia since the filter has to be applied for every request that is sent to a website.

I'm really surprised that a supposedly first-world country will be implementing censorship on this level. South Africa has a very liberal constitution and freedom of speech is encouraged. Clearly the Australian government view things differently. Perhaps those wanting to emigrate to Australia... should think again? ;)

Related links
Internet censorship plan gets the green light
Australia to implement internet filter