Australian Government Repeals Political Censorship Law

Australia has always been known for its strict censorship of games. While the game censorship issue is huge, the Australian government managed to incite an even bigger uproar with its latest attempt at expanding its “protective gaze.” Last month South Australia passed a law that required anyone discussing political issues to provide their name and address, or face a fine of up to AUS $1,250. If NG had a “Doing it Wrong” leaderboard, Australia would have achieved the rank of “Pissing in a Gunshot Wound” with this stunt.

After an absolutely enormous outcry not just from the Australian people but from almost every western media outlet, the Australian government decided yesterday to retract the law.

Reading this again and again, I still can’t believe that the South Australian government tried to implement this. When you’re collecting the names of people as if you were assembling some sort of hit list, you don’t think there is going to be an outrage? This isn’t a step towards full censorship, it’s a giant leap. The whole point of criticizing government is to keep the government accountable for their actions. When the ability to hold the government accountable is lost, then what’s to stop them from even more drastic action?

Credit goes to the Australian people for making their voice heard, but the sad part of this story is that the Australian government didn’t have to back down. They could have just as well told the Australian people to jump in a lake, and enacted the law. Who’s to say they wont try to enact the law at a later junction? Yet another chapter unfolding in the unfortunate book of Australian censorship.