At what point does internet filtering become censorship?

The article first appeared in The Age on December 16, 2009
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THE twitterverse was predictably scathing.

One tweeter going by the handle "incorrect" wrote "This moronic filtering proposed by Conroy should be referred to as 'the old Chinese remedy"'. drunkenkoala tweeted that "for a democratic country this sure does seem like china or iran". asphotos blasted "Chairman rudd you communist" while om-henners mused "I have to wonder whether Stephen Conroy read 1984 and thought 'I could totally do that"'.

sunlightandsnow pointed out that "there's definitely some stuff that could be classified as violent porn, lots of rapes etc in the Bible ..."

This response to the the Australian Government's announcement yesterday confirming plans to implement mandatory filtering by internet service providers (ISPs) of certain categories of online material does not suggest that the twitterati are pro-child pornography, partial to incest and bestiality, or keen to incite violence. It does suggest that many people think it is important to fight for openness and the free exchange of ideas, qualities fundamental to the internet.