According to a report by the AAP, the South Australian government hopes to outlaw violent and humiliating images from the Internet. Proposed by Attorney General John Rau, the legislation is the first of its kind in Australia and would make it illegal to post demeaning images of others online without their consent. Rau said that the law is designed to punish people for publishing videos of themselves performing violent and degrading acts – a common practice among teens.
"The government wants to attack this disgusting fad of thugs engineering and filming violent and humiliating acts and posting the images to websites," said Rau. "This behavior is so disturbing and potentially damaging to the victims that I believe the creators of these images should be subject to severe penalties, including jail sentences. The government wants to make it very clear that if a person participates in any way in an act of this sort, then the consequences will be severe."
The law would extend to all parties involved in posting the offending material. For instance, if you knowingly allow someone to upload the images with your computer or phone, you'll also be in the hot seat. Of course, this is all easier said than done and opponents of the proposal raise several valid concerns. "We have no indication of how this initiative will be policed or how we can avoid people being unfairly caught by the legislation," contests justice spokesperson Stephen Wade.