Conroy – ruling out the impossible
Posted by Dave Bath on 2010-04-17
We know Conroy’s insistence on introducing mandatory internet filtering, despite all concerns and technical assessments, cannot be because he believes it can stop obnoxious internet material from reaching Australia.
He explicitly mentions 335 sites as carrying such material, and yet, rather than simply get international law enforcement agencies doing what they are good at, shutting down the sites at their sources and prosecuting the criminals, he carries on.
What possible reasons might Conroy have for his stance. I can think of two that haven’t been given much play:
- Conroy does NOT actually want to stop the production and transmission of this noxious material, nor does he want offenders prosecuted.
- Conroy is taking instructions from Beijing
After all, that’s about all we are left with if we acknowledge the political odium he is attracting, and the technical futility of his implementation.
His assurances that his pet project will not be used to stifle free speech on political matters, including issues like euthanasia, is pretty thin, politically odious, and thus only makes sense if under pressure from Beijing to have a so-called democratic country introduce internet censorship. The question is, does China have Conroy’s (or the entire government’s) balls in a vice?
If China does not have that much influence, then we are left with Conroy knowing that his plans will allow noxious material to continue to be produced, with law enforcement efforts diminished because of his claims the problem has been solved.
When stupidity is ruled out, malice, however improbable, remains.
Guy said
Well I think its pretty much political stubbornness. As he sees it, it was an election promise for the Rudd Government to deliver a filtering scheme. After almost a full term, Conroy would view any backdown from that promise as a failure to deliver, regardless of all the perfectly legitimate criticism of the scheme. It is a pity that the sorts of people who would view any reluctance to pursue the net filter as a failure are precisely the sorts of people who Labor are trying to pull from the Coalition.