The Australian government have a lot of things on their plate right now and yet all they can seemingly think about is porn. Okay, hear me out.
According to The Guardian, the Coalition have taken a leaf out of the UK’s book and put together a parliamentary committee to investigate the possibility of implementing an age filter on porn websites.
You know how gambling websites have those age filters? Just imagine those but for all your favourite porn sites.
As for why the government are doing this, the chair of the aforementioned committee, LNP MP Andrew Wallace, is clutching his pearl necklace out of concern about how Australians can access porn online without verifying that they were 18 or older.
“This is concerning, as research shows that accessing pornography negatively influences young peoples’ attitudes to sex, sexuality and relationships.”
Ignoring the fact that he hasn’t shown what research he’s referencing, Wallace did say that the committee’s inquiry won’t focus on “appropriately classified” porn sites in Australia and will also look into how this hypothetical age filter would push over 18s into “unregulated markets”, potential privacy breaches and any impact on freedom of expression.
Now this probably looks okay on paper and what not but let’s look at how the government’s hypothetical age filter will pan out if it becomes reality.
The UK porn website age filter was a bit of a flop as it was circumvented pretty easily and there’s no indication that the hypothetical Australian one is going to be any better. And besides, if a horny teenager wants to watch some porn, no measly age filter is going to stop them from getting their fap on.
This age filter will also create a big database of all the Australians who watch porn, which is a massive privacy problem if all this personal info was leaked.
Taking all this into mind, this again begs the question: why is the government so obsessed with porn?
With so many more important things to worry about than stressing over teenagers watching videos of people engaging in sexytimes – like climate change, the immigration stuff, the stagnant wages and the NBN just to name a few – surely an age filter for porn sites ranks pretty low on the to-do list.
Unless the government is using the porn website age filter as a smokescreen for all the stuff they’re supposed to be focusing on but aren’t. Huh. Dwell on that little thought next time you’re browsing the internet for videos of hot, sweaty action.