The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has released its long anticipated Content Regulation and Convergent Media report into content censorship in Australia.

 

Formed in 2011 to review Australia’s media and communications legislation in the context of media convergence, the report covers the public consultation of an introduction of an R18+ classification; a review of measures to increase accountability and transparency for internet service provider (ISP) filtering of Refused Classification (RC) material; a Senate Committee review of Australia’s classification system; inquiries into cyber-safety and outdoor advertising; the Independent Media Inquiry into newspapers and online news publications; and a proposed national cultural policy.

 

The ALRC report has been guided by eight guiding principles:

 

 

  • Australians should be able to read, hear, see and participate in media of their choice;
  • communications and media services available to Australians should broadly reflect community standards, while recognising a diversity of views, cultures and ideas in the community;
  • children should be protected from material likely to harm or disturb them;
  • consumers should be provided with information about media content in a timely and clear manner, and with a responsive and effective means of addressing their concerns, including through complaints;
  • the classification regulatory framework needs to be responsive to technological change and adaptive to new technologies, platforms and services;
  • the classification regulatory framework should not impede competition and innovation, and not disadvantage Australian media content and service providers in international markets;
  • classification regulation should be kept to the minimum needed to achieve a clear public purpose; and
  • classification regulation should be focused upon content rather than platform or means of delivery.

 

 

The ALRC continues to support a move to push providers to establish in-house content regulation, saying that new obligations should be put in place for provider to ‘take reasonable steps to restrict access to adult content and to promote cyber-safety’.

 

The report also pushes for the creation of a platform-neutral legislative regime to classify and restrict access to content across divergent media platforms.

 

The full ALRC can be found here