Stephen Conroy: Who do you want in charge of the internet – Facebook or me?
Media minister Stephen Conroy has turned his fire on Facebook, suggesting that he is better placed to protect internet users than the social networking site. He also said that Google’s boss is “creepy”.
His comments came at a Senate estimates hearing last night.
Conroy has been the main driving force betwen the Government’s plans to create an internet filter in a bid to keep unacceptable online content out of Australia.
Conroy, quoted in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, told the hearing:
c) I’d rather being in charge of my online privacy myself, thanks
It’s halarious, and VERY disturbing that Conroy thinks those are the only two POSSIBLE options. What an arrogant {EXPLETIVE}.
Die in a fire Steven, please.
Dear Mr Conroy
I’m sure you are exceptionally capable in many fields. Unfortunately the internet isn’t one of them.
All your internet are belong to us. Your privacy is our privacy. Happy people have freedom to pursue life as we let it. All your internet are belong to us. Prosper.
Mr Conroy, If you think that the government you represent is democratic, think again;
your government does not tell the people the truth , your government deceives the people of Australia, you hide the truth have as far as I can see have little integrity.
Then you call your government democratic give us a bill of rights and
Binding people initiated referendi. instead of your Fascist style internet watch dog
This highlights how very little Conroy understands about the internet. Isn’t the whole point of Facebook about opening your life for the whole world to see and enjoy?
If those were the only options (and what a preposterously fatuous assertion it is that they are), then – quite frankly – I’d choose Facebook.
Ha. Did anyone else see the irony in Conroy’s words “a democratically elected government with all the checks and balances in place”
The problem is, Mr Conroy, your ignorance brands yous as a luddite, due to your ignorance based on what industry experts have told you. Yet you push on trying to implement what is effectively a dictatorship style censorship regime, with zero accountability, and no transparent checks & balances.
Its easy to opt of of Facebook Mr Conroy. Far harder to opt out of Australia.
I’d rather have the toothfairy watching over me, Mr Conroy….. at least the toothfairy is opt in……
Utterly ridiculous Mr Conroy!
Deary Me Mr Conroy
You are so simple minded sir, I cannot believe it. But of course this is deliberate form you: sheep will always get a wolf for their leader. You simply have no idea what people want. WE, the people want control over what effects us, as in the past Google nor the government have been trustworthy. Neither can provide. But for the readers out here, it is easy. Just google privacy and anonymity at https://ssl.scroogle.org/
Again you show how much you dont know about the web.
You treat us like fools sir and are not worthy of voting for. Mind you the libs are just as naive when it comes to the web.
We have fools for leaders
Lets not allow Mr Conroy to shift the debate, by confusing, Privacy, Internet Infrastructure and Information/Content Access.
Privacy laws are already in place to protect consumers. If we aren’t happy with them, then change them. But I think that to date they are effective, by and large. And if you aren’t happy with FaceBook or Google, then don’t use them, or Microsoft or anyone for that matter – unrealistic discussion really – so back to regulation and enforcement.
Internet Infrastructure or the Telstra vs NBN debat. This is about core services required to create a successful population and economy in the ‘information economy’ – assuming we beleive there aren’t endless mineral resources. A sort, what is our nations competitive advantaghe discussion and how will we deliver it. (also about the fact that services in Australia are underperforming and expensive)
Finally – content, or Freedom of Information. Or about the rights to publish, and access information and knowledge. About government control and consumer rights to access information, books, news, thought, and the truth. The so called internet filter. (Something I don’t believe we need if we have the right laws and regulations in place – laws that represent and protect the population as government should – not systems and controls that give the government control – with no checks and balances).
What is a worry is that the government are going to own the NBN and also the content filter – this is extremely concerning and a path I personally don’t want our great nation to head in. Owning both should not be an option.
Aside from all of this, Stephen Conroy is kidding himself. If he came out and said, the government are now going to own and control all media, books stores, printers, libraries etc…there would be uproar. 1 – he couldn’t do it. 2. Society wouldn’t let him do it. But use words like internet and privacy protection and NBN and our eyes all galze over…..I don’t think so!!!
d) I decide the content filter, government protects my privacy through legislative control and the NBN, well they better do a damn good job of delivery so retailers and consumers can use it.
sorry about the spelling, but mumbrella doesn’t have infield spell check and I don’t have time.
If those are the two options, then I take the corporate giant who is answerable to no one and motivated solely by profit, every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Conroy is a hack, and I hope to God Victorians vote him out of the Senate this election.
I can opt out of Facebook, but I cannot opt out of Conroy. Nuff said.
I think you do have time, Dr Nick, if you can compose such a rant.
Its Australians apathy at election time that alows clowns like Conroy and his masters to get into power. Election coming up VOTE THEM OUT>
Beaudacious. You know what, you are right. You must know me. By the way, I love your contribution to the discussion, very constructive. I note your profile says Digital Marketer, I think you should change it to Digital Musketeer – you know, see if you kind a few fights in your life to show how righteous you are.
Last I heard facebook and google were only regulating their own services – not the Internet as a whole. Not that I’d expect Conroy to understand the difference.
The Colour Red is coming up over the horizon in OZ. In a political sense I mean.
Perhaps the people need a rude awakening, for a change.
Censorship of all Media, denial of personal Freedoms, to speak, to move freely,
rigged votes, choices of job, place to live, political views Feedom of market activity.
and much more.
I have had to live it for some time. and so did many more.
Take a close look at our current System, the signs are there, fortunatly it has not happened yet, make sure it wont.
Suggest all take a bath.
The filter won’t impact you unless you are seeking URLs that contain Refused Classification rated content that has been complained about and listed.
The NBN will supoprt all of your future business models.
Its a shame that Conroy, the Labour Party nor most of his electorate will see any of these posts – surely he’s got to know by now he does not have a mandate for these retrograde things he is trying to push – checks and balances? yeah right!
Mm, trust the people that are trying to put internet censorship in place, or the people that oppose it?
The people that stand by while their nationals are thrown into jail following highly suspect trials in China, or the ones that will show some strength, pack up and go home in the face of draconian internet clampdowns.
It is a tough, tough choice
Keeping the attack personal will give Conroy all the credit he deserves!.
none!
To Phil Collins,
We don’t want the infrastructure there for censorship. Because It will start with RC material, but sooner or later, when everyone forgets about the filter, a certain politician may into power.
Then it will take VERY LITTLE effort to block just about anything, and we will be in big trouble, and the government will effectively have control of all digital freedoms.
This isn’t a CHILD PORN fight, as Conroy wants it to be, it is the set-up of infrastructure that can easily turn this country into a bigger threat to freedom than any other first world country.
Yes, yes…but can I watch the footy on the net?
Just to note… Conroy was NEVER elected he was GIVEN the seat by a party leader after the seat became vacant (not sure of the reason) Conroy i pretty sure has had the least amount of votes for his electorate out of labor candidates!. No -one does actually vote for him! HE IS PLACED IN HIS POSITION!
Democracy…… no sorry that is not democracy!
Good point, Keaton. And, Phil Collins, don’t know if you have kids in high school, but if you get the chance, check out how much is filtered/blocked from their internet access using their free school laptops. Yahoo for example, because it has a finance site – blocked because of it’s strong relation to gambling – yes, really! A taste of things to come surely. Filtering the internet will filter out useful and inoffensive content and we won’t know if it happened unintentionally due to the limtiations of the technology or if there was human intention behind it for political, commercial or personal gain. I don’t think anyone here is arguing that we should all be free to surf criminal content, but there has to be a balance in our freedom from potential exposure to exploitative and criminal content and the freedom to learn, share, communicate and congregate online.
lrn2internets, stephen conroy.
2 funny….. I think my Nana with dementia makes more sense.. :))))
Nice point Kane. Conroy WAS was appointed to fill the vacancy in 1996 when Gareth Evans ran for the Lower House – as our Constitution calls for.
And that is where your tirade runs out of facts, steam and logic.
He was then elected in the October 3, 1998 Federal election, and then re-elected in the October 8, 2004 Federal election. Also, given that he is a Senator, his ‘electorate’ is the state of Victoria.
So, what part of the facts contravenes your understanding of ‘democracy’? You are entitled to your opinion, but readers are also entitled to the facts being laid out.
And no, I am definitely NOT in favour of Internet Censorship, and vehemently disagree with Conroy and Labor’s position.
Yes Senator – fantastic, but don’t stop there, you should totally launch a “social networking” site run by the Australian Government to compete with that treacherous Facecbook!
To join, all you’d need is your Tax File Number, a passport and a police background check – then simply fill in Form S10-B9(a), have it witnessed by a JP, then post all documentation and a $55 application fee (non-refundable) to ACMA for processing. If everything is in order, within 5-10 working weeks, you will receive your “Social Networking for Working Families Starter Pack” via reply mail.
Ahahahahahaha!! Good one, Mr Conroy!
“…a democratically elected government with all the checks and balances in place…”
Heehee! Yeah, democratically elected perhaps, but then you do what the f*@k you want, including trying to implement a filter that wont work, while ignoring people who understand the internetz a LOT more than you do, who are telling you not to waste taxpayer’s money…
Perhaps Mr Conroy should hit the stand up circuit? Except, no one actually thinks he’s funny either.
So the internet has one person or organisation in charge of it now? It’s up to a single body to ‘make the rules’ on how the web works?
Come on – can someone please just sit down Senator Conroy and explain the last twenty years of online development in single syllables? Draw him a diagram.
Plus, criticising someone else’s mistakes, valid though those criticisms may be, certainly doesn’t justify his approach. How does attacking recent Facebook and Google controversies answer any critic regarding the filter?
That;s like a house-breaker being quizzed by police, pointing at the next cell saying “yeah, but he killed people. You want me out there on the streets because I’m not as bad as him!”
It’s an extraordinary thing but Conroy has made it look as though Richard Alston was competent.
@ YogaChiky – Get as many expletives in as you can before the filter sets in! Mind you, I’m sure ‘internet language’ is lost on our noble senator. He’s probably been trying to email you on ‘f*@k’ all afternoon!
WWW stands for World Wide Web,
and parents should impose parential Control not some Clem Caditelhopper.
If Parents let the Kids access unwanted material behind closed doors, the world should not have to be sensured.
Access is easily controlled via pass words and PIN codes.
What a lot Bull Dust this discussion is.
Senator Conroy is attempting to deflect attention from his own problems, and doing a good job – 7 news just ran with the Evil Internets line as well.
As for the poll, given those limited options I’ll take my chances looking after my own privacy. Google garners enough info about me from its search engine that I don’t use Chrome or gmail, and I’ve bailed out of Facebook entirely.
Conroy’s argument is totally flawed. A corporate giant is just as susceptible to public opinion and the Federal Government. You could, in fact, argue that it is more venerable to the whims of the people than our politicians. You only have to look at the loooooong list of companies that have gone under for not delivering what people want. And corporate giants face an election every day NOT every three years.
Get real Conroy!
“trust me, I’m a politician”
I can’t believe (sorry, I truly can’t) the incompetence of our politicians these days. FFS, I know the back story behind how this happened (well, Google’s version of it. which seems plausible to me). Stephen Conroy looked like a little child having a dummy spit in from of the Committee today.
I totally agree with Chris Berkeley’s comment above. A sad, sad state of affairs. I simply could not believe it when I heard this on AM this morning.
Along with the farcical Super Profits Tax (aka lets tax the shit out of the mining industry, they’re the ONLY ones making SUPER profits [disclosure – I work for one]),
Australia must be becoming the laughing stock of the rest of the world.
@Phil Collins – I suspect you’re just stirring but it won’t affect us. Here’s why – it’s already broken before it’s taken out of the box. Here’s the video that ABC Q And A just deleted because it was “instructing people on how to get porn”. It demonstrates I hope what an absolute waste & folly the filter is http://jimboot.com/fun-with-the-filter
Please prosecute that criminal for Misconduct in Public office,,,,
It is common Law as is Murder as is this
common Law solonThis is why the Athenian Law maker solon decreaded it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy (common Law) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solon
This would be Criminal Misconduct in Public office if they did. And I’m sure we all want opposition and debate.
Can someone please decree at least a modicum of correct spelling and grammar?
Why Conroy is right about Google & Facebook: http://www.commsday.com/commsday/?p=1071
To – Phil Collins
You, like Stephen Conroy are confusing the issues. Stephen Conroy may well be right about the breaches of Australian laws, and those organisation like many others should feel the full weight of the law. But it has nothing to do about whether Governments should take on the role of deciding what content we read or not. Governments can use regulations and the legislature to help shape the rights of the community, not to control the rights of the community. In some ways you appear to contradict yourself. The article you link to talks of a business owner who suffers due to the unilateral impact of a decisions by google to shut his marketing and tech services down – hasn’t this already happened when the government tested its filter – unilateral exclusion of businesses who are operating inside the law. If you don’t like google , you shouldn’t like the filter!
I’d rather Facebook to be in charge, to be honest, if the only alternative was Conroy.
Even in godfearing Toowoomba, Conroy’s schtick ain’t playing:
http://www.australianews.com.a.....8c79f1f680
there hasn’t been an Australian politician this out of his depth since Harold Holt
One of the first economic societies in the world, was established in 1765 in Saint Petersburg by a group of wealthy landowners led by Count Grigory Orlov. With the likes of Arthur Young and Jacques Necker among its honorary members, the Society was “supposed to publicize advanced methods of farming and estate management as practiced in foreign countries.
Despite the Society’s self-professed independence, the mastermind behind its early activity was Catherine II of Russia, who viewed agriculture as the mainstay of Russia’s economy. She endowed the Society with funds for a library and a building on Palace Square; it was she who secretly suggested a famous essay competition on the subject “What is more beneficial to society — that the peasant should have land as property, or only movable property, and how far should the right of property be extended?” Today the internet is the modern worlds new “land” rush that will drive global commerce and it seems that Stephen Conroy aspires to be the modern day Catherine II, but we all know what happened to Russia. Try to stick with politics Stephen and maybe one day you will get good at it