Australian Election Gag Law – No Anonymous Comments!
February 2, 2010 · By Greg Farries
Nothing makes me gag more than freedom sapping gag laws.
Well over 1000 people had posted comments on the AdelaideNow website up to midnight last night – most vehemently against the Rann Government’s legislation which will force internet bloggers and anyone publishing a comment on next month’s state election to supply their real name and postcode.
A poll reveals more than 90 percent of readers are against the laws, which carry a maximum fine of $5,000 for media organisations who do not hand over such information to the Electoral Commissioner.
In an extraordinary response to the story, readers have compared the law to those used in Nazi Germany, China, George Orwell’s 1984 and North Korea, including Mark Burns Springer from the United States.
I personally feel anonymous comments should be placed into context – if the commentator doesn’t include their real name, then their overall argument is diminished compared to those who do include their name. Basically, it’s about trust between those who are having the discussion. Those authors that use their real names tend to moderate their comments and are therefor less likely to tarnish their “good name.”
However, that doesn’t mean I don’t value those who contribute anonymously, and I think it’s a fundamental right to be able to speak your mind without having the government jackboot those who want to remain anonymous.
I would say with Harpers record and actions, you would think a person who says something against Harper or the conservative
government and wants to apply for a job with the federal government better be anonymous.
James, got any proof to back up your accusation?
In a situation like this, there are two possibilities:
1. The government is already able to discover who is posting, and what their postcode is.
2. The goverment is unable to discover who is posting, and what their postcode is.
If 1 was true, then there would be no need for the government to legislate. They would already have the information they require.
If 2 is true, then the only way that the government can discover who is posting and what their postcode is, is by getting everyone to provide their name and postcode.
In order to prosecute, the goverment needs your name and postcode.
If you’ve provided you name and postcode, the government can’t prosecute because you’ve broken no law.
If you haven’t provided your name and postcode, the government can’t prosecute, because they don’t know who you are.
It would seem that the proposals have less in common with the works of Mr Blair, and more in common with Mr Heller.
Highly unlikely without a court order. Even if they could track IP addresses of commentators on external nongovernmental websites (which they can’t), they are still only left with an IP address. They would need to coordinate with the internet service providers to get the info of who was using that particular IP address as the time of posting.
Which means, this legislation is complete nonsense.
Greg,
I believe you are mistaken. This legislation gave a job to a legislator who, like most legislators, would otherwise be unemployed.
Yeah but there would still be a need for jobs.