• In Australia, certain websites are prohibited under law.computer image by blaine stiger from Fotolia.com
  
  Censoring the Internet continues to be a subject of debate, not only in the United States, but in other parts of the world as well such as Australia. Those in favor of Internet censorship in Australia claim it will protect children from being exposed to obscene material, while those opposed view it as a restriction of freedom. Internet censorship rules, regulations and investigations have been commencing in Australia for since the 1990s.
  
  

History

• In September 1995, the Senate Committee on Community Standards announced an investigation would take place regarding online content in Australia in an effort to ban all R-rated material from the Internet. In April 1999, then-Sen. Richard Alston, former minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, introduced legislation to create a censorship regime for the Internet. Although it was announced that the legislation would be made public before reaching the senate, this was not the case. On June 30, 1999, the bill was passed in the House of Representatives. The bill went into effect on Jan. 1, 2000. The new law was to prohibit certain material -- including X-rated sites sent from overseas -- from being shown online.
  
  

The Regime

• Under the commonwealth law of Australia, both Internet content hosts and Internet service providers are must delete all objectionable material, as well as material not suitable for minors, from their servers whenever ordered to do so by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. State and territory laws in Australia make it illegal for Internet content creators, providers or users to provide or possess online material -- like X-rated content -- deemed illegal by Australia. However, Electronic Frontiers Australia, a nonprofit Internet-rights watchdog organization, continues to oppose the restrictions, claiming such laws violate the freedoms many Internet users have in other parts of the world.
  
  

Penalties

• Penalties for providing unacceptable content on the Internet, or content the government considers R-rated, depends on whether the content is hosted in Australia. If the content is hosted in Australia, the host will face a maximum fine of $11,000 per day until the content is deleted. If Australia is not the host of the obscene content, the website will be blacklisted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. However, site providers may serve R-rated content as long as the site can verify that only adults are using the site. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy wants to continue Internet censorship in Australia by banning any website that contains criminal content, including gambling websites.