Australia may ban posting of children's photos on Internet
Posting photos of children on websites could become
a crime in Australia - even if they appear to be wholesome family snaps, reports
Australia's The Daily Telegraph. In a proposal with ramifications for schools,
sports clubs, and families which make online "brag books" for friends and
relatives, state and territory governments will combine to tighten the use of
the Internet to ensure predators cannot access Internet images of
children.
Australia's attorneys-general have prepared a
co-ordinated strategy following the discovery of a raft of suspicious websites
featuring children's photos, the article says. Most Australian states currently
have legislation against sexually explicit photographs appearing on the
Internet. But photos of children in sporting teams, including schoolboy rowers,
and young surf lifesavers, have recently been displayed and linked to sexually
explicit websites. The proposed legislation would prevent photos from being
posted if they could be used for sexual gratification. Parents and community
groups could still place photos on websites but if concerns were raised and
links to pornographic websites discovered it would become a
crime.
The Standing
Committee of Attorneys-General report recommended a dual approach to the
problem, the article says. First, action must be taken to ensure young people
are not photographed in ways that exploit them and invade their privacy, despite
not necessarily being sexually explicit. Second, action must be taken to prevent
those images from being published in a way that encouraged sexual
predators.
The report said
the smaller size of cameras, ease of downloading digital photos at home, and the
advent of cameraphones had all led to a growing ability to take photographs
without the subject's knowledge or consent.
Posted: Thu - August 11, 2005 at 12:31 PM