Somebody Think Of The Children

Regulation makes me sleep easy at night

Psychologist and social researcher, Hugh Mackay, writes in his new book Advance Australia…Where? that if we make it appear we have solved a problem through regulation, we ease the burden of personal moral responsibility.

Mackay uses the example of a woman who wanted environmentally unfriendly cleaning products banned from supermarket shelves so she wouldn’t have to choose between the eco-friendly and the less eco-friendly products. By removing the option to choose she would no longer have to exercise any moral discretion.

Take what Mackay says and apply it to mandatory filtering. If the Government throws a blanket over Internet content, we no longer have to decide whether what we read or see on the web is appropriate — for us or others. We allow the Government to make the choice and if they get it wrong, it’s their fault not ours.

Mandatory filtering may make some politicians and parents sleep better at night, but it isn’t a solution to protecting children like the Government claims. It’s more about covering their own base.

- Mike

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