Additionally:
The filter will block access to material that is currently legal to possess and view
Material that is 'refused classification' (RC) includes much more than child abuse material.
The National Classification Code defines what material is to be Refused Classification in Australia. The code states that the Classification Board must refuse to classify films, publications, and computer games that:
•describe, depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified; or
•describe or depict in a way that is likely to cause offence to a reasonable adult, a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18 (whether the person is engaged in sexual activity or not); or
•promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime or violence.
The Code also states that all computer games that are unsuitable for a minor to see or to play are to be refused classification.
The only material that is illegal to possess in Australia is child sexual abuse material. In all States and Territories except for Western Australia and certain parts of the Northern Territory, it is legal for adults to view and own material that has been refused classification. Australia's classification regime has always been about empowering adults to make appropriate choices and only restricting the public sale and demonstration of RC material. The filter, however, will try to prevent all Australians from accessing, rather than selling, prohibited material.
Based on previous decisions of the Classification Board, things that would be blocked include:
•information about euthanasia;
•movies such as Ken Park or Baise-Moi;
•books such as Join the Caravan and Defence of the Muslim Lands; and
Items that have been banned because they "promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime or violence" include things like:
•a satirical article called "The Art of Shoplifting" in a student newspaper (•a computer game that features "an amateur graffiti artist [...] who uses graffiti and tagging as a way to protest the corrupt Dystopic city of New Radius, in a future world where freedom of expression is suppressed by a tyrannical, Orwellian city government" because it "provided elements of promotion of the crime of graffiti."
