South
Australian laws censoring anonymous political comment on the internet
have sparked national and international outrage, with readers comparing
the draconian laws to those in Nazi Germany and China.
More than 600 people have posted comments on the AdelaideNow website
- most vehemently against the Rann Government's legislation which will
force internet bloggers and anyone publishing a comment on next month's
state election to supply their real name and postcode.
A poll reveals more than 90% of readers are against the laws, which
carry a maximum fine of $5,000 for media organisations who do not hand
over such information to the Electoral Commissioner.
In an extraordinary response to the story, readers have compared the
law to those used in Nazi Germany, China, George Orwell's 1984 and North
Korea. The state Liberal Party - which supported the law - also drew
fire from readers.
Attorney-General Michael Atkinson said the law would not impinge on
free speech and claimed that he expected The Advertiser and AdelaideNow
to publish false stories about me, invent things about me to punish
me.
In a press conference, Atkinson said the law was all about honesty.
He conceded it would be difficult to police but the most egregious
and outrageous breaches of the new laws would be identified.
The new law, which came into force on January 6, requires internet
bloggers, and anyone making a comment on next month's state election, to
publish their real name and postcode when commenting on the poll.
The law will affect anyone posting a comment on an election story on
The Advertiser's AdelaideNow website, as well as other news sites such
as The Punch, the ABC's The Drum and Fairfax newspapers' National Times
site. It also appears to apply to election comment made on social
networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
The law, which was pushed through last year as part of a raft of
amendments to the Electoral Act and supported by the Liberal Party, also
requires media organisations to keep a person's real name and full
address on file for six months, and they face fines of $5000 if they do
not hand over this information to the Electoral Commissioner.
Update:
Anonymous Blogging Back On
3rd February 2010. Based on
article
from
arstechnica.com
The cries of the outraged citizenry have had an effect. While
defending the new rules as recently as yesterday, Michael Atkinson has
suddenly backed off from them. He sent a statement to AdelaideNow, one
remarkable for its candor.
From the feedback we've received through AdelaideNow, the blogging
generation believes that the law supported by all MPs and all political
parties is unduly restrictive. I have listened. I will immediately after
the election move to repeal the law retrospectively... It may be
humiliating for me, but that's politics in a democracy and I'll take my
lumps.
South Australia's Premier, Mike Rann, knows his way around the
tweet-o-sphere, and he backed up Atkinson's comments with his own
Twitter commentary.
For many young people, and even the not so young, internet is
their parliament of ideas and information, said one. Then,
immediately after: AG has listened. So no debate will be stifled. No
political censorship of blogs or on-line comments whether named or anon.