Opponents of government-mandated Internet content filters to restrict access to pornography often argue that they don’t work.
Don’t tell that to Australia’s porn industry.
Representatives of the country’s commercial smut industry are trying to organize a new “Australian Sex Party.” And this AFP article reports that while the political initiative is supposedly “a political response to the sexual needs of Australians in the face of moral campaigners and prudish politicians,” its lead organizer is Fiona Patten, who is the head of Australia’s national adult retail and entertainment lobby.
Patten admits the trigger for organizing the “Sex Party” is to combat Australia’s institution of a mandatory filter on Internet content. Since January, Australia has required all Internet service providers to filter out pornography and other inappropriate material, in order to shield children from online porn and violence.
Those who want to access such material have to choose specifically to opt out of the filter.
Porn purveyor Patten complained to AFP that the initiative is hurting the porn industry.
Let’s hope she’s right, and that the pain is permanent.
—Tom McFeely