Former Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks will soon be a free man, no longer needing to report to the police under a draconian control order. He was only recently regarded as a threat to society. Now, apparently, he’s harmless. What changed? It’s called political opportunism to scare the public into believing authorities are protecting…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
Australia’s censoring tendencies
The Australian government’s plans to censor the internet are causing justified outrage. I was interviewed today by The Podcast Network about these issues, what activists can do to oppose the changes and the possible reasons behind them. (Here’s my previous interview with The Podcast Network about my book The Blogging Revolution.)
How politicians don’t understand the web, part 8642
As the issue of internet censorship heats up in Australia – along with my recent article in the Melbourne Age about the government’s absurd proposals – one of the best sites to track progress is Somebody Think of The Children. Take this post or this one. Simply put, our government is in thrall to the…
So now what?
My latest New Matilda column is about a necessary reality check on President-elect Barack Obama: Talking about morality in international affairs is easy. What about action? Antony Loewenstein examines the tough foreign policy challenges facing the President-elect An unprecedented amount of hyperbole from the international media heralded last week’s election of Barack Obama to the…
Moving towards some kind of balance
How could anybody complain about this necessary, though minor, shift? Australia has switched its position to vote against Israel on two resolutions at the United Nations, ending the Howard government’s unswerving alignment with the United States and raising concern from the Jewish community. The move also signals to the incoming Obama administration that the Rudd…
Government uploads hypocrisy with internet censorship
My following article appears in today’s Melbourne Age: Before this year’s Beijing Olympic Games, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd chastised the Chinese authorities for blocking full access to the internet for the assembled world media: “My attitude to our friends in China is very simple”, he said. “They should have nothing to fear by open digital…
The Zionist desire to shut mouths
How does the mainstream Australian Jewish community view the issue of academic freedom? Simply put, according to a new blogger on the Independent Australian Jewish Voices website, these groups want to crush any opinions or individuals who dare challenge Israel and its apartheid policies. The Jewish state is a religion for these people, beyond public…
From Canberra to Tehran
Following the news that Australia intends to censor the internet for arguably spurious reasons, the story deepens: The Federal Government is attempting to silence critics of its controversial plan to censor the internet, which experts say will break the internet while doing little to stop people from accessing illegal material such as child pornography. Internet…
The price for bias
Peter Slezak, Sydney Morning Herald, October 20: I should probably be writing under a pseudonym. If submissions to the Senate inquiry into bias and academic freedom are taken seriously, I’m in trouble. As a university lecturer, I confess my teaching and publications are thoroughly biased, riddled with prejudice and entirely lacking in even-handedness. I am…
Australia embraces web censorship
My following article appears on the Global Voices Advocacy site: The issue of internet censorship generally involves countries deemed non-democratic or “repressive” (something I discuss in my new book, The Blogging Revolution.) We regularly read reports about the regimes in China or Iran blocking countless “subversive” websites for overtly political gain. Alas, a growing number…