Nicolas Perpitch
From: The Australian
FACEBOOK, the world's largest social network site, is under more pressure to tighten security after West Australian high school students used it to threaten teachers, calling for them to be "massacred by chainsaws".
The pressure comes after a Facebook memorial site for murdered 12-year-old Queensland schoolboy Elliott Fletcher was desecrated with images of child pornography and bestiality.
Users of two Facebook groups set up for past and present students of North Albany Senior High School, in WA's south, posted threatening and defamatory comments about current and former teachers.
One comment said: "If we get over two million people saying they hate (....) all staff and workers involved should be massacred by chainsaws and the school should be shut down."
It is understood the Department of Education and Training has identified the student who allegedly posted the comment, although no action has yet been taken in the case.
Albany police said they were not involved at this stage.
In one discussion, past students referred to a teacher by name, claiming he was a "pervert" and had "sleazed" on to them.
State School Teachers Union president Anne Gisborne called for tighter protocols governing the use of Facebook and similar internet sites.
"What you've got potentially is the setting up of a kangaroo court, without the opportunity for any witness statements to be made or any defence," Ms Gisborne said. "It can be the ruin of an individual and their professional integrity."
Facebook refused to comment.
State Education Minister Liz Constable said she was appalled at the students' postings and they should be punished.
The school's principal, Sharon Doohan, indicated staff were being instructed in the appropriate use of social networking sites.
She urged parents to be vigilant over the potential misuse of the internet by their children.
Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard said yesterday a $3 million pilot program to combat cyber bullying in schools would promote "smart, safe and responsible use of technology".
MY COMMENTS:
From the article, what can I say is... 'Say NO to FB!' lol..
No, that's not my real comments.
Nowadays, facebook (FB) has a great influence among people in the whole world. Every post that you made may change the world. (Wow! never thought that I gonna write that..)
I know some of us are quite addicted to FB. As long as we know the right way to use it or more specific, the safe way to use it, maybe or just maybe, FB are beneficial to us.
Like what Mr. Yee had once said in the class, it is alright to indulge ourselves with those things as well as we know how to limit ourselves so that it won't bring us harm.
So, the next time you are online, watch out your mouth! [^.^]
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Attorney-General Michael Atkinson vows to repeal election internet censorship law amid reader furore
Greg Kelton, Derek Pedley
From: The Advertiser
February 02, 2010 10:30PM
ATTORNEY-GENERAL Michael Atkinson will move immediately to repeal controversial laws which sparked an outcry over censorship of the internet. After backing down late last night to say the laws would not be put into effect, Mr Atkinson told reporters he would follow the advice of Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Vickie Chapman and use a section of the Electoral Act to immediately repeal the section.
Earlier, Mr Atkinson said it would be repealed but could not do it until after the election and had promised that no action would be taken against internet users during the election campaign.But after comments from Ms Chapman that it could be done, Mr Atkinson said he had decided to act immediately and paid tribute to Ms Chapman for her suggestion.Mr Atkinson was continuing to accept full responsibility for the furore today saying he was embarrassed but he would not stand down from Cabinet "unless Vickie Chapman stands down with me''.He said she had been fully aware of the provisions of the Bill when it passed through Parliament last year."This law was supported by all 69 MPs of Parliament and some of them are now running away from it faster than others,'' Mr Atkinson.
"I have come here today to say we listened to what people of the blogging generation had to say and we changed our policy accordingly.''Mr Atkinson said he had not been told by Premier Mike Rann to change the policy which has sparked outrage from media organisations, including The Advertiser and AdelaideNow, and civil liberties groups across Australia.He said he had rung the Premier last night and said while most South Australians supported honesty and integrity in accountability during election campaigns, there was an up and coming generation of young people who had grown up with the right to say "pretty much anything on blog sites'' without constraints and that was a right they were going to cling to very fiercely."It would not be effective to continue to resist them,'' Mr Atkinson said.
How Atkinson backflippedAfter a furious reaction on AdelaideNow to The Advertiser's exclusive report on the new laws, Mr Atkinson at 10pm last night released this statement: "From the feedback we've received through AdelaideNow, the blogging generation believes that the law supported by all MPs and all political parties is unduly restrictive. I have listened."I will immediately after the election move to repeal the law retrospectively."Mr Atkinson said the law would not be enforced for comments posted on AdelaideNow during the upcoming election campaign, even though it was technically applicable."It may be humiliating for me, but that's politics in a democracy and I'll take my lumps," he continued in the statement."This way, no one need fear now that they are being censored on the net or in blogs, whether they blog under their own name or anonymously. The law will be repealed retrospectively."I call upon all the other political parties who supported this review to also review their position.
"The extraordinary backdown followed Mr Atkinson's flawed defence of the law on radio 5AA earlier in the day.He said the new law was necessary because people such as Aaron Fornarino, who regularly posts comments on AdelaideNow, were Liberal Party plants.After the backdown was revealed on AdelaideNow last night, Premier Mike Rann posted three Twitter messages: "AG has listened. So no debate will be stifled. No political censorship of blogs or online comments whether named or anon.""All MPs and all parties voted for Electoral law. Hope Libs, Greens, Family First, Independents etc will join us to support repeal.""For many young people, and even the not so young, internet is their parliament of ideas and information.''
From: The Advertiser
February 02, 2010 10:30PM
ATTORNEY-GENERAL Michael Atkinson will move immediately to repeal controversial laws which sparked an outcry over censorship of the internet. After backing down late last night to say the laws would not be put into effect, Mr Atkinson told reporters he would follow the advice of Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Vickie Chapman and use a section of the Electoral Act to immediately repeal the section.
Earlier, Mr Atkinson said it would be repealed but could not do it until after the election and had promised that no action would be taken against internet users during the election campaign.But after comments from Ms Chapman that it could be done, Mr Atkinson said he had decided to act immediately and paid tribute to Ms Chapman for her suggestion.Mr Atkinson was continuing to accept full responsibility for the furore today saying he was embarrassed but he would not stand down from Cabinet "unless Vickie Chapman stands down with me''.He said she had been fully aware of the provisions of the Bill when it passed through Parliament last year."This law was supported by all 69 MPs of Parliament and some of them are now running away from it faster than others,'' Mr Atkinson.
"I have come here today to say we listened to what people of the blogging generation had to say and we changed our policy accordingly.''Mr Atkinson said he had not been told by Premier Mike Rann to change the policy which has sparked outrage from media organisations, including The Advertiser and AdelaideNow, and civil liberties groups across Australia.He said he had rung the Premier last night and said while most South Australians supported honesty and integrity in accountability during election campaigns, there was an up and coming generation of young people who had grown up with the right to say "pretty much anything on blog sites'' without constraints and that was a right they were going to cling to very fiercely."It would not be effective to continue to resist them,'' Mr Atkinson said.
How Atkinson backflippedAfter a furious reaction on AdelaideNow to The Advertiser's exclusive report on the new laws, Mr Atkinson at 10pm last night released this statement: "From the feedback we've received through AdelaideNow, the blogging generation believes that the law supported by all MPs and all political parties is unduly restrictive. I have listened."I will immediately after the election move to repeal the law retrospectively."Mr Atkinson said the law would not be enforced for comments posted on AdelaideNow during the upcoming election campaign, even though it was technically applicable."It may be humiliating for me, but that's politics in a democracy and I'll take my lumps," he continued in the statement."This way, no one need fear now that they are being censored on the net or in blogs, whether they blog under their own name or anonymously. The law will be repealed retrospectively."I call upon all the other political parties who supported this review to also review their position.
"The extraordinary backdown followed Mr Atkinson's flawed defence of the law on radio 5AA earlier in the day.He said the new law was necessary because people such as Aaron Fornarino, who regularly posts comments on AdelaideNow, were Liberal Party plants.After the backdown was revealed on AdelaideNow last night, Premier Mike Rann posted three Twitter messages: "AG has listened. So no debate will be stifled. No political censorship of blogs or online comments whether named or anon.""All MPs and all parties voted for Electoral law. Hope Libs, Greens, Family First, Independents etc will join us to support repeal.""For many young people, and even the not so young, internet is their parliament of ideas and information.''
This is all because of internet..
SEAN FEWSTER
From: The Advertiser
January 30, 2010 12:01AM
CARLY Ryan's mother has refused to surrender to despair, vowing to dedicate her life to saving others from the fate that befell her murdered daughter.
Speaking for the first time since the teenager's killer was convicted, Sonya Ryan said urgent action, such as compulsory seminars for Year 8 students, was needed to educate children about internet dangers.
Ms Ryan, 38, also threw her support behind new federal laws, proposed by independent senator Nick Xenophon, that would make lying to children on the internet a crime.
Yesterday, Ms Ryan told The Advertiser her focus "had to be" on the future, not the past.
"A future without Carly is just too terrifying to imagine, like someone switched off the light that she brought into our lives," she said. "You can either fall into that blackness and completely give up or you step into the light and do what you can - and that's trying to help others.
"What else is there? It's pretty much the only choice I have. If I have to be here without Carly, then my aim is to help create awareness."
On January 21, Ms Ryan sat in the back row of the Supreme Court and watched as a jury found a Victorian man guilty of murdering her 15-year-old daughter.
It was the first time she had seen the 50-year-old since she kicked him out of her home three years earlier.
At that time, she had believed the man's name was Shane and that he was the adopted father of Miss Ryan's internet boyfriend, Brandon Kane.
In truth, both "Brandon" and "Shane" were personas the man had adopted to seduce Miss Ryan into a sexual relationship.
Ms Ryan ordered "Shane" to leave her home after finding him sleeping in the same bed as her daughter.
Weeks later, the man would use his cyberspace alter ego to convince Miss Ryan to go with him to Port Elliot, where he bashed and drowned her.
"Carly would be utterly horrified to know the level of deception of that man," Ms Ryan said yesterday.
"A lot of people believe whatever they read on the internet is true, especially children . . . they believe what they see, but there is just so much deception out there and on so many levels.
"All it takes is for a trusting teen to believe what a predator is saying to them and their safety is instantly taken out of their hands.
"Carly was a very compassionate young lady and she would be wanting all of us to do whatever we can to stop this happening again in the future to another young girl."
Ms Ryan said parents had to educate themselves about the internet.
"I think that parents are unaware of what their children are doing online," she said. "They need to be more actively involved and checking their children's websites, looking at the mediums they are using, checking their profiles and who they are speaking to."
Teachers and governments, she said, had to work together to warn children about online predators. "Kids put whatever they like on their MySpace and Facebook pages - their schools, their telephone numbers, their movements - just completely unaware that anybody can look at that information," she said.
"The internet is getting bigger and bigger, and this problem is only going to get worse - something needs to be actively done and people need to start taking this seriously.
"I think there should be compulsory school seminars on internet awareness and safety for Year 8 students."
Ms Ryan said she would create a foundation, in her daughter's name, to further internet awareness and child safety. She called on the public to contact her with suggestions and initiatives.
"There has been enough suffering over the past three years," she said. "Not just for me but for Carly's family, her friends, the lady who found her on the beach, the police and the prosecutors.
"Now, the best thing I can do is get out there and try to help others prevent this happening in the future.
"I just try to always think `What would Carly want me to do?' and I know, in my heart of hearts, that is getting this message out . . ."
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