Govt urged to take stance on Internet porn
The Federal Government is being urged to take a tougher stance
on Internet pornography to prevent children accessing inappropriate
sites.
A survey by the Australia Institute of 16 and 17-year-olds shows more
than 80 per cent of boys and 60 per cent of girls have stumbled across
sex sites on the Internet.
Author of the study, the Australian National University's Michael Flood
says government legislation is failing to protect young Australians from
often violent images on the Internet.
He believes accessing such sites can be emotionally disturbing.
"We also believe that exposure to pornography and especially violent
and extreme pornography will inform young men of the belief that it's
okay to pressure a young girl into sex," he said.
Institute director Clive Hamilton says government regulation of Internet
pornography is failing teenagers and their families.
"You only need to spend two minutes on a computer to work out
there's a vast array of images, some of it violent and extreme, showing a
whole array of fetishes and disturbing practices that children can see,
so clearly the system is failing."
The Federal Government says a review of its controversial Internet
censorship laws is already underway.
Under the legislation passed in 1999, the Australian Broadcasting
Authority was given the power to order the removal or blocking of
material deemed offensive.
Government backbencher Ian Causley admits it is not working.
"I'm very concern about some of the information on the Internet, not
just porn," he said.
"I think there's a lot of defamatory areas on the Internet to and
it's proving a very difficult area to control."
http://abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-3mar2003-42.htm
