According to a Daily Telegraph report, Australia’s federal government plans to introduce laws to protect children from the distribution of pornographic images via mobile phones. New regulations will include the prohibition of X-rated content intended for viewers age 18 and over, as well as requirements for age restrictions on access to adult content. Strong sanctions are being implemented to back the sanctions, and criminal penalties will result for non-compliance.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Communications Minister Helen Coonan said the government would extend censorship and regulatory laws to mobile phones and include penalties.
“I will introduce to Parliament legislation to extend the current safeguards that apply to content delivered over the Internet or television to content delivered over convergent devices,” says Coonan.
The move comes as child safety groups called on parents not to buy their children phones with Internet access.
Approximately 40 percent of mobiles phones sold are Internet enabled, meaning they can download clear images either via email or directly from the Internet. Among Internet-enabled phones, lower-end devices have access to the operator’s “walled garden” of content, which can include songs, pictures, and ring tones.
The daily newspaper also reported that an 11-year-old boy was suspended from school after downloading nude photos on his mobile phone and showing them to his classmates.
The unnamed student allegedly showed the photos to at least eight children at a public school and was given a two-day suspension after the incident was discovered.
