I'm genuinely curious. I came across an article today talking about how a soon-to-be released video game (the latest iteration of Mortal Kombat, for those of you who care 
) has been effectively censored in Australia; it's illegal to sell it in the country, and customs has been ordered to seize any copy entering Australian territory.
This, and the subsequent trip to a Wikipedia article on censorship in Australia, got me thinking. By American standards (and no doubt those of many other countries, but I'm sticking to what I know), a great deal of things that go on in Australia are positively Orwellian. For instance:
"The Melbourne bookstore Polyester Books, which stocks unusual books of many genres, has been raided by police on two occasions for violation of censorship laws. In addition, several adult book stores have been raided by more than 60 police in Sydney. Australian customs also actively seeks and seizes books imported by individuals.
Many recent contemporary teen novels have been banned due to depictions of teens meeting strangers in chat rooms and then planning to meet them in real life." (Wikipedia)
And
"Australia lacks an explicitly protected form of freedom of speech. Some individuals possess limited forms of free speech, such as parliamentarians in session, University lecturers in a lecture, or people speaking in a designated domain for speeches. In the late 1990s the High Court of Australia found that there was an implied right of free speech in relation to political or economic matters." (Also Wikipedia)
Now, I am far too lazy to actually do legitimate research on this topic (as evidenced by my use of Wikipedia) when I can just come to RAFO and ask Australians/people familiar with Kangarooland themselves. Is this sort of thing a Big Deal in Australia?
It's just very confusing to me.
) has been effectively censored in Australia; it's illegal to sell it in the country, and customs has been ordered to seize any copy entering Australian territory.This, and the subsequent trip to a Wikipedia article on censorship in Australia, got me thinking. By American standards (and no doubt those of many other countries, but I'm sticking to what I know), a great deal of things that go on in Australia are positively Orwellian. For instance:
"The Melbourne bookstore Polyester Books, which stocks unusual books of many genres, has been raided by police on two occasions for violation of censorship laws. In addition, several adult book stores have been raided by more than 60 police in Sydney. Australian customs also actively seeks and seizes books imported by individuals.
Many recent contemporary teen novels have been banned due to depictions of teens meeting strangers in chat rooms and then planning to meet them in real life." (Wikipedia)
And
"Australia lacks an explicitly protected form of freedom of speech. Some individuals possess limited forms of free speech, such as parliamentarians in session, University lecturers in a lecture, or people speaking in a designated domain for speeches. In the late 1990s the High Court of Australia found that there was an implied right of free speech in relation to political or economic matters." (Also Wikipedia)
Now, I am far too lazy to actually do legitimate research on this topic (as evidenced by my use of Wikipedia
) when I can just come to RAFO and ask Australians/people familiar with Kangarooland themselves. Is this sort of thing a Big Deal in Australia? It's just very confusing to me.
What's confusing?
There is no right to free speech in our constitution, but mostly you can say what you want. It's a long way from being Orwellian. There are laws against vilification and inciting hatred or violence, so anything that promotes this is likely to get banned.
With video games, we don't have an R(18+) rating for games so anything with particularly graphic violence or that promotes illegal activities usually ends up getting refused classification - effectively banning it.
Books get censored for much the same reasons - either for promoting violence or something that's illegal. Adult books or videos that depict sexual violence, degradation or involve minors will definitely get banned, probably why those bookstores get raided.
Don't know where Wikipedia got its information from about the teen novels. I can't see them getting banned just for that.
There are exceptions where censorship doesn't apply. For example, academic, artistic and scientific cases, parliamentary discussion and reporting in the media. It's not like people aren't allowed to talk about these subjects.
None of it seems to be a big deal except to a few civil libertarians and degenerates. And maybe Americans
~ ASI ~
Can someone explain Australian perspectives on free speech to me?
- 17/04/2011 08:30:58 AM
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In addition to what LadyLorraine said...
- 18/04/2011 09:00:33 AM
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Well, I meant to focus more on the banning of books, but yes, good point. *NM*
- 18/04/2011 06:40:34 PM
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Maybe ...
- 18/04/2011 03:07:29 PM
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its a shame that talking isn't taxed, it'd shut some gas bags i know up
- 18/04/2011 06:48:35 PM
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