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Banning race riot game 'complicated'
THE Federal Government says it is examining ways to ban an online game glorifying a violent Sydney race riot, but the patchwork of laws regulating internet content is complicating the issue.The object of Cronulla Monopoly ; designed to be printed from the internet and played with a dice is to buy property in the Sutherland Shire in order to donate money to right-wing groups to "win back Australia". The game includes photographs of last December's violent clashes at Cronulla, in southern Sydney, and is "dedicated to all those who stood up for fair dinkum Aussies". Federal Communications Minister Helen Coonan today promised to refer the game to internet content regulator the Australian Media and Communications Authority (AMCA). "The Australian Government is committed to doing everything possible to protect Australians on the internet," Senator Coonan said. "This includes protecting them from inappropriate and offensive material online including racially motivated material. "The Government has a strong legislative and regulatory framework to deal with complaints about offensive and illegal material online." The game was referred to Senator Coonan by New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma in the hope that she could ban it under Commonwealth law. If the game breaches classification guidelines, which broadly include racial vilification, Senator Coonan and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock may be able to take it down. However, if the site is hosted overseas, they may be limited to blocking the game locally. The game appears to be hosted on an anonymous US-based site, accessed from a link on the website of nationalist group Australia First. The AMCA and Australian Federal Police must be convinced the website hosting the game has broken a law before any legal action can be taken, a spokeswoman for Senator Coonan said. But as the game, which features racist slogans such as "We grew here, you flew here", appears to incite racial violence, it could be a matter for federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison. The overlapping jurisdiction of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), concerning breaches of the Racial Discrimination Act, further muddies the issue of who has responsibility for dealing with the game. HREOC would attempt conciliation of any complaints but if unsuccessful the matter could go to the Federal Court. A spokesman for Mr Ellison denied authorities were unable to act because the game fell into a legal grey area. "In fact, there are a range of mechanisms at the Commonwealth level that could be used to deal with concerns raised about the 'Cronulla 2230' website consistent with the government's strong opposition to discrimination in all its forms," the spokesman said. The NSW Community Relations Commission says all Australians should be appalled at the hatred in the game Mr Iemma dubbed "racist garbage". Australia First says on its website that it did not create the game, but the group did not respond to requests for comment today. Posted by: Oztralian 2006-10-17 |
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