Rudd Government may lose votes due to Internet filter

A survey done by Whirlpool’s 2009 Australian Broadband Survey of 23,683 verified responses showed 92.6 percent of respondents do not support the Federal Government’s mandatory content filtering scheme. This is due to concerns that it will block off useful information, create a false security blanket of a safe Internet among parents and potential abuse by future governments.

Also worthy to take note is the survey found 44.1 percent of respondents will consider the Internet filter as an important influencing factor when voting in the federal election. The other 39.2 percent remarked that it could be a factor but other issues were equally important.

Whirpool openly admits the respondents are strictly informed users of its broadband website, from students, government bureaucrats, to IT managers, administrators and developers.

Almost half (49 per cent) said they had never found a site that would likely be banned by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The government should instead educate parents and children, according to respondents, of whom 84.3 per cent said they already know or could follow instructions about how to get around the content filter.