There are no examples of online content manipulation by the government or partisan interest groups. Journalists, commentators, and ordinary internet users generally do not face censorship, so long as their speech does not amount to defamation or breach criminal laws, such as those against hate speech or racial vilification (see Legal Environment).[38] Nevertheless, the need to avoid defamation (and, to a lesser extent, contempt of court) has been a driver of some self-censorship by both the media and ordinary users. For example, narrowly written suppression orders are often interpreted by the media in an overly broad fashion so as to avoid contempt of court charges.[39] Court costs and the stress associated with defending against suits under Australia's expansive defamation laws have caused organizations to leave the country and blogs to shut down.[40]
Australia Moves to Censor Internet
"[The] internet has always been a free territory. The government is not aimed at enforcing censorship there," Russia's Telecom Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said, the TASS news agency reports. "LiveJournal, YouTube and Facebook showcase socially responsible companies. That means that they will be blocked only if they refuse to follow Russian laws, which is unlikely, in my opinion."
A noted online distributor of popular video games such as The Witcher series has removed functionality from its platform which limits some features to customers based on what country their internet address is from, potentially allowing Australians to clandestinely escape local video game censorship rules. 2ff7e9595c
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