The current issue

The federal government plans to enforce a mandatory censorship scheme of the Internet for all Australians at the Internet Service Provider level, nation wide.

Whilst condemned by public, most state governments, and almost all ISPs this plan will also waste millions of tax payers funds in a bid to enforce a level of censorship that will set human rights in Australia back several decades, and possibily impact on internet speeds to the same degree.

  1. Filtering will be mandatory for all Australians.
  2. The filter will censor material that is "harmful and inappropriate" for children.
  3. The Government wants to use dynamic filters of questionable accuracy that slow the internet down by an average of 30% or up to 80%.
  4. This censorship will impact legal as well as illegal material.
  5. $44m has been budgeted for the implementation of this censorship scheme.

This scheme was implemented without public consultation and has been closely guarded, even the advisory board for this scheme is closed-door and by invitation only; compounding the issue the only groups allowed on the board include no civil liberties organisations, the advisory board comprises of law enforcement, pro-censorship groups, and a few ISPs only. All minutes of meetings and information as to goings on within this advisory panel have thus far been kept out of the eye of the public.

So What is The dlc About?

The Digital Liberty Coalition is at the forefront of civil liberties and free speech campaigning and the only direct-action organisation tackling this issue.

The DLC is an umbrella organisation that was born of direct action and a grass roots response to the threat to our freedom of speech formed by pre-existing groups purpose build for direct action and effective lobbying.

We believe that while everyone wishes to see children protected from harm, censorship is never the answer. As a volunteer driven non-profit organisation we need your support to keep the internet free!

our appeal to all australians

The DLC is volunteer driven, we have made a massive impact on society at large delivering the message that the generally silent yet significant demographic of internet users across the nation won't stand for censorship.

Our significant media coverage and high profile ability to reach target demographics whilst lobbying and educating the public on a shoe string budget comes at a small price, insignificant compared to the billions of dollars put into other forms of activism by other organisations.

It is this unique means of communicating with the public whilst attempting to gain a 'fair go' for all Australians through direct action and lobbying that we have led the way as a collective movement. Through openness, fairness, equality and liberty we can, as a community, push forwards an agenda that is fairer for all.

It goes without saying that the DLC would not exist without the countless organisations, individuals, and anonymous contributors who have indefatigably defended our civil rights through contribution of time, effort, and finance.

We urge you to ask what free unhindered access to the internet is worth to you. Is a latency under 1000 ms important? Getting emails in a timely fashion in the office? Being able to view what you want without finding it's been taken offline because one user contributed material that, say, promotes safe use of drugs, or addresses something controversial like euthanasia? Facebook, myspace, YouTube all contain this subject material, do you use those sites?

If these issues hit home with you, and you want to help but don't know how; we are here to show how you, as a single individual, can be more effective than an army of angry bloggers. The best time to protect your freedom is while you still have it!