Ever notice how leaders like Howard, Blair and Bush rely on some measures to implement policies that have little chance of curing a problem? The Bush and Blair government’s obsession with national ID cards have been sold under the guise of fighting terror, even though David Blunkett admitted that they would be ineffective in doing so.
John Howard’s latest effort is just as lame. His true intentions are all too obvious.
The Howard government’s plans to roll out broadband across the nation provides them with the opportunity to do what China, Iran and other countries have tried to do : block content they don’t like, or that they deem dangerous, or threatening, or even too dissenting.
It stands to reason that the Howard government will thus reserve the right to decide what constitutes terrorism and incitement to violence, and will no doubt, apply such judgements selectively.
That the Howard government wants to do the same across all internet content reaching Australians is hardly a secret.
But the definitions of what constitutes ‘terror’ or ‘glorification’ of violence are broad and open to vast interpretation.