

Senator Conroy said international press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders had been "seriously misled" by the EFA in its decision to put Australia at the top of its 'Internet Enemies' list.



The Reporters without Borders report said Australia needed to be watched closely to ensure its internet freedoms were not infringed by the proposed filter.



Other countries on the Reporters Without Borders list include United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Belarus, and Turkey, among others. But Senator Conroy said the group had been misled, and appeared to lay the blame with the EFA.



"Reporters Without Borders have been seriously misled, much like many people in this chamber, about what the government is actually proposing," Senator Conroy said. "It is wrong in both the facts about what the government is proposing and it is wrong in terms of its comparison with other countries."



The report's implication that Government was trying to block "unwanted" content - and not the defined Refused Classification content that is the object of the policy - was wrong and misinformed, Senator Conroy said.



Responding to a question from Queenland Liberal senator Sue Boyce, he flatly denied that he had ever implied opponents of the internet filter were supporters of child pornography, and railed at the EFA for making the suggestion.





"The material that has been supplied to Reporters Without Borders comes from Electronic Frontiers Australia, who have been challenged publicly on a number of occasions to produce a quote where I have ever said that," Senator Conroy told the Senate today.



"After six months, they have been unwilling to provide one quote," he said.



"I challenge each and every one of you to come up with such a quote, because it does not exist. Electronic Frontiers Australia have (run) one of the most disgraceful misinformation campaigns and have misled Australians."



Senator Conroy said the Refused Classification material targeted by the filter could not be distributed through books, on TV, cinemas or DVD - a ban that is supported by "each and everyone in this chamber."



"But apparently this new distribution platform otherwise known as the Internet should be something sacred. It should not have to play by the rules of Australia," Senator Conroy said.





