But conservative moralisers rarely acknowledge this. Instead they tend to hinge their arguments on the patronising, victimised view of children as inherently vulnerable and corruptible. Even worse, by using the figure of the innocent child as a political pawn to advance their own agenda, conservatives are guilty of exploiting children. And when you think about it, it is a cunning move because anyone who disagrees with the censorship plan is instantly cast as being anti-child welfare, or worse, pro-paedophilia. But this only silences and skews debate. As someone who lobbies fiercely for the rights of survivors of sexual assault and young people in general, I can say that the best way to protect children is to stop talking about them as though they are vulnerable Oliver Twist-type caricatures awaiting corruption by the big bad world. Instead, we should start talking with our children and empowering them by building on their strengths and by providing them with practical tools to negotiate the online world. And here is the sad reality. The proposed censorship plan is not going to stop paedophilia or child exploitation. This is because most paedophilia is committed by a person who is known to the child and who has direct access to the child — most often this is a family member. Similarly most of the illegal pornographic content on the internet is actually being transmitted through decentralised, peer-to-peer networks and these networks will continue to operate irrespective of the proposed filter.

In short, Senator Conroy's proposed censorship plan is not going to succeed in what it has been designed to achieve. It will be an expensive, unpopular mistake. It is important, though, that we continue to have conversations about children, pornography and unwanted sexual advances. In recent years the stereotype of the trenchcoat-clad paedophile who lurks around public parks armed with lollies and other enticing sweets has been replaced by the equally cliched image of the internet-addicted paedophile who trolls chatrooms looking for vulnerable children. There is no question that sexual predators use the internet to groom potential victims. There is also no question that paedophiles are using the internet to network and to share resources as well as the hideous tips and techniques they use. But when talking to young people about online interactions, it is important that we keep in mind the fact that the most frequent unwanted sexual advances made against young people online, are actually being made by their peers.

As adults we often dismiss such advances as being harmless sexual socialisation and flirtation. But there is no reason to assume that it is easier for young people to negotiate and deflect the unwanted advances made by peers compared to those made by strangers — no matter how calculating those strangers are. It is also problematic to assume that those advances are not experienced as intimidating and coercive, simply because they are being made by their peers. On the contrary knowing how to negotiate a sexual advance made by a peer or a friend may be far more difficult than telling a complete stranger to back off. Fear of rejection, fear of ostracism within peer networks, and fear of appearing prudish make it very difficult for young people to navigate the complex social dynamics that frame their online lives. While it's important that we remain vigilant about adult sexual offenders then, it is also important that we acknowledge the wide range of experiences that young people have, and that we do not ignore certain behaviours simply because those behaviours don't conform to out stereotyped views of what sexual offences look like. It is also important that we don't demonise the internet. For young people everywhere online communication and social networking sites form an important part of social identity construction and it's not realistic to simply ban children from connecting and communicating online.

The answer, as usual, is that we should talk with young people, listen to their concerns and allow them the space to think through and reflect on their own experiences. Navigating internet traffic and sexual encounters is never easy, but that's precisely why we need to start young by arming children and teens with as much age-appropriate information as possible. Most importantly, it's vital that hysteria and panic is replaced by education and reasoned discussion. Nina Funnell is a media researcher at the University of New South Wales.