"E-safety": The New Thought Police

Give an inch and they’ll take a mile - fair to say Australians are waking up to the consequences of what an emboldened bureaucracy, when bestowed with the right to police what we can think and say, can do.

What started as a well-intentioned, yet perhaps naive attempt to unmask online agitators and trolls that bully students in high school has evolved into a far more sinister attempt at regulating the free exchange of ideas in this country.

Last week, we all familiarised ourselves with one Julie Inman Grant, our very own free speech gatekeeper masquerading as the “eSafety Commissioner”, who has actually occupied the role for over 7 years now. This has only come under closer microscope due to the Rickard review - commissioned by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland to rapidly expand the scope of this e-Safety Commission. I can be a cynicist at times, but I find myself routinely questioning the overuse of “safe” when used by bureaucrats. Workplace health & “safety” on worksites has become a front for dragging out projects as opposed to genuine welfare concerns. Aussies were told their superannuation would be “safe” under Anthony Albanese, that evaporated a few months after he took office. And need I bring up the dreaded words “safe and effective”, anyone?

The Commission's actions to take on Musk and social media giant X has brought into question this notion of what is “safe”. According to our very own Karen-in-chief Julie Inman Grant, the footage of Western Sydney Priest Mari Mar Emmanuel being stabbed amounts to empowering the state to police what we can and can’t view of the horrific encounter, in spite of the requests of the victim. Whether you did look away or were distressed by the footage, all policymakers must be informed and aware of the precedent being set which is that public discourse can be controlled and dissent can be suppressed. Safe search (there’s that word again) filters exist on all these platforms too. The difference? We can opt-out. 

If I want uncensored content, I can download Reddit, 4Chan and Parler - all working alternatives for online thread discussion and civil discourse. Yet when the government steps in, we are all subject to the same regulation.

This Orwellian approach has the consequence of us abandoning informative lessons to be learnt about interacting on the world wide web. When before viewers would treat content with discretion and use critical thinking to evaluate the merits or truthfulness of an idea, now we instantly accept it as truth because “well I guess it made it through the checks and balances of the e-safety commission, must be true”. This is a phenomenon otherwise known as the “Nanny State”, a concept perhaps not widely spoken about as much in the modern era because we have all accepted we are living in one. Indeed government expenditure year on year as a proportion of GDP has grown some 50% in the last 50 years. 

Each year, despite extra spending on mental health services, Australians spiral more and more into addiction because we can only surmise that if an item is made available to us, that it must be endorsed by our government overlords who we believe keep us “safe” from all harm. I mean if everything we can consume is policed by the government and we do not have a healthy scepticism of government as is the case for many Australians (see: Covid restrictions), why would we feel the need to develop any sense of self-control and restraint?

As Australians who value our fundamental freedoms, we must stand against the erosion of our right and advocate for a more balanced approach - one that respects free speech and feels the need only to address legitimate safety concerns.

We must encourage all Australians to speak out against the emboldening of the bureaucracy and greater powers placed in the hands of our Karen-in-Chief, who will now use the taxpayer dime to pay legal fees against a social media giant in a foreign country during a cost of living crisis.

Together, we can protect our digital rights and ensure that our online spaces remain open, free, and safe for everyone. Stay updated with the work of the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, an organisation on the frontline working hard