Australia could beef up internet regulations in the wake of UK terror attacks

THE LINE BETWEEN SAFETY AND FREEDOM IS UP FOR DEBATE.

With the recent terrorist attacks in the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May called for an increase in internet-based regulation powers in order to prevent terrorist organisation and further radicalisation. Australia’s Minister for Social Services, Christian Porter, responded to this claim on ABC’s political panel show Q&A by saying he supports this call and that more should be done by the “big companies” responsible. Porter said that “if you operate a carriage service, surely you must bear some responsibility to ensure you’re not carrying that sort of hatred over your communication network”. Word from the Labour representative on the panel, Anthony Albanese, suggested that there is bipartisan support over matters of internet regulation so far, which could indicate a relatively easy advance in this direction. As it stands, Australian citizens are subject to data retention laws which allow ISPs to record and store customers metadata for up to two years, to be used as evidence in high-level court cases (such as those involving terrorism). The current approach is rather passive, so if something does come to pass, it may involve more active censorship and surveillance.