Racism And Technology Is Evolving Faster Than The Law

Reblogged from Vice

By The Anti Bogan  | Aug 6 2014

Hey remember that racist lady on the train? You know, the one who offered the heartfelt apology on Channel 7 while using a pseudonym? Yeah, she was horrible but she said sorry so she’s not racist anymore and anyway it was justified because she’s been the victim of racism before and she isn’t really a racist because she has a friend who is half Indian. And it’s okay too because she was splashed across mainstream, independent and social media for days and charged by police for public racial abuse within 48 hours. Thank goodness that’s over and will never happen ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, again.

When it comes to dealing with public discrimination, Australia has the state and federal legislation, but not the teeth. When a YouTube video of a venomous bigot spitting racial diatribe goes viral, it becomes newsworthy. It’s pure gold to mainstream television networks that push voyeuristic sensationalism to an audience hungry for car accidents, home invasions, shootings, and dogs on surfboards.

When this chunk of people power feels offended it’s suddenly vital for authorities and tall poppies to be seen to address the issues immediately. Enter the police spokesperson or local member for Boganville.

It often feels like incidents of racism are on the rise—particularly at the lowly public-transport-riding-citizen level. But a contributing factor is that every person with a mobile phone is now carrying a video camera. The same can be seen in the online world of racism: levels of bigotry have always existed, but now anyone with the Internet has a public voice and the ability to publish their opinions to the world. Camera phones and You Tube may give the impression that we’re more sensitive to racial injustice than our parents, but the actual system in place to protect people against racism is about as effective as clicking ‘like’ on a Facebook post.

Racism was, is and will always be a problem. But the less visible issue arising now is that our legal system isn’t evolving at the same rate as our racist outlets. The enforceable statutes that are in place to protect people from barbs of discrimination are clear and imposing, yet were implemented in a time when incidences of public rants and raves were limited to drunks and creeps on the street beating their chests and dragging their knuckles. It is frequently asserted that people can be ‘prosecuted’ or ‘convicted’ under the Racial Discrimination Act. It is regularly said that section 18C serves to protect hurt feelings at the expense of free speech. In actual fact, neither assertion is true. Additionally, 1 out of every 3 complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is declined due to a complex variety of reasons.

At the most basic level, the Racial Discrimination sector of the AHRC states that racial discrimination is against the law and that citizens may lodge complaints. But it continues by stating that it is “not a court” and cannot prove that discrimination has occurred. Additionally, the HRC will generally only accept complaints lodged by a member of the affected group. For example, if you are offended at a television advertisement where Indian people are portrayed in a negatively generalising way, you may only lodge a complaint with the HRC if you are of Indian descent.

At the authoritative level, making a statement at your Local Area Command (LAC) police station will generally prove to be fruitless as well. Officers will tell you that in order to act on online threats or acts of discrimination they will need to conduct an investigation into whether or not the person on the other end is who they say they are. According to one Constable at a local Sydney LAC, it would take up to three months to perform what is called an iASK. This is the same procedure undertaken by police officers when responding to victims of harassment via email or mobile phone. Dealing with online harassment is difficult due to the fact that people share computers and are tech savvy enough to use VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) that throw their IP location to far reaching corners of the world.

At the holy-shit-I-just-want-to-be-protected level, officers may assist you in applying for a PVO (Personal Violence Order), which can prevent a certain person from harassing you, but this is a lengthy procedure and requires you to be present in a court of law. Additionally, it only prevents one person from harassing you and does not stop them harassing others in the same way.

Our impotence to fight racism isn’t just confined to trolls, but rather compounded by a Scott Morrison inspired Government that attempts to demonize asylum seekers by calling them “economic migrants”. Our own Attorney General George Brandis floated the idea to remove what little protection we presently have (see Section 18C Racial Discrimination Act) because “people have the right to be bigots”. Luckily that didn’t come to fruition.

To say our discrimination legislation is in need of a refresh in an understatement— it was drawn up in a time when our Indigenous population was being referred to as “fauna” and refused the vote. Racism in Australia is an ugly shrouded reality, one generally muffled and confined to family homes and the boozy BBQs. In Australian culture racism is like smoking, just because it’s not allowed in public spaces doesn’t mean a huge section of the population is willing to give it up.

Media and law enforcement should be reacting to online discrimination with the same vehement opposition afforded to public transport bigots with equally, if not harsher penalties. Unlike Sue Wilkins (aka Karen Bailey), there are literally tens of thousands of bigots lining up on social media to offer their real names, smiling faces, and Bali holiday snaps in stark juxtaposition with their hate-filled opinions of people who are culturally, religiously, sexually, physically and politically different minded. To the rest of us, these people are achingly awkward and produce uncomfortable giggles and smirks. It’s hard to laugh at discrimination, but easy to guffaw at nutjobs who are losing their shit on public transport. Poor fools. They’re in a way the victims, to be honest. Victims of a sensationalist media and fear-striking Government that wants them to think they’re in need of saving from the unwashed, coloured mob.

Of course it is naïve to believe that discrimination will fade away and see us living in a harmonic utopia simply on the back of harsher penalties and legislation. It takes a multi-pronged and sustained effort of education, shifts in media and entertainment, endorsement from influential people, denouncement from politicians, and better guidance from parents to see bigots change their ways. But first things first, we need 21st century protections against abuse – if racism and hate can keep up with the times we need to make sure so can we. And if heaven forbid, you ever find yourself chucking a wobbly at some Asian on a hot train on your way home from 28 failed job applications, just make sure you say sorry and pretend your name is Richard Head.

The trouble with Tim

From a recent radio interview   How does Tim Wilson stack up against the other Commissioners at AHRC?

Lets take a look

President – Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs

Solicitor and barrister, former Dean of the Sydney Law School and Challis Professor of International Law, distinguished jurist with an international reputation

Mick Gooda – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner

Elder of the Gangalu people of Central Queensland, 25 years experience as an advocate and activist in Indigenous communities, former Chief Executive Officer of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health

Susan Ryan AO – Age Discrimination Commissioner Former Senator in the Hawke Government, Women’s Ambassador for ActionAid Australia, Independent Chair of the IAG and NRMA Superannuation Plan

Megan Mitchell – Children’s Commissioner Qualifications in social policy, psychology and education. Public servant and academic – previous roles include NSW Commissioner for Children and Young People, Executive Director of the ACT Office for Children, Youth and Family Support, Executive Director for Out-of-Home Care in the NSW Department of Community Services and CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service.

Graeme Innes AM – Disability Discrimination Commissioner Solicitor specialising in human rights. Former member of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal; the NSW Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal; and the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. Chair of the Disability Advisory Council of Australia and Vision Australia.

Tim Soutphommasane – Race Discrimination Commissioner Academic in the field of philosophy and ethics. Ph. D from Oxford. Political philosopher at the University of Sydney. Opinion columnist with The Age and The Weekend Australian and radio presenter with ABC Radio National. Author of three books.

Elizabeth Broderick – Sex Discrimination Commissioner Solicitor. Appointed  as Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, to lead the Commission’s Review into the Treatment of Women in the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Australian Defence Force. Partner and head of legal technology at a law firm, Blake Dawson Waldron. Facilitated a nearly 600 per cent increase in the number of women appointed to ASX 200 boards.

and last  Tim Wilson – “Freedom Commissioner” ?? Institute of Public Affairs frat boy and friend of George Brandis. Dedicated to gutting the effectiveness of Section 18C of the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act.

 We hope all those marginalised and discriminated against “freedumbs” “freedoms” running around out there living miserable lives are suitably grateful

 

Guest post – Broken Promise – The promise we are glad Abbott has broken

May 28, 2014

Peter Wicks

 

It has come to light that Tony Abbott and the Coalition are set to break yet another election promise.

Unlike all of the other broken promises however I don’t think we will be seeing a backlash from the public over this one, although some sections of the public will no doubt be disappointed.

Fairfax has revealed that George Brandis is backing down to decency and public outcry over his proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, in what has become known as the Section 18C Attack, or the Bolt Bill.

Those who will no doubt be disappointed over Abbott’s latest broken promise will be some of the most influential to the Coalition.

Racists, Bogans, Nazis and bigots will together with shock-jocks, right-wing columnists, Senator Cory Bernardi and of course Attorney General George Brandis will no doubt mourn this day as a loss for freedom of speech, along with other Coalition MPs.

The freedom they desperately sought was the freedom to racially vilify people. The freedom to use words as a weapon and reduce people to an object that is easy to hate as Hitler did so effectively with his anti-Semitic propaganda designed to dehumanise Jews on his rise to power.

We all remember how badly that ended…

This freedom to vilify and preach hate was of course the promise that Tony Abbott and George Brandis made to columnist Andrew Bolt, and thankfully they have failed to deliver.

The promise was made after Bolt was found guilty of breaching the Discrimination Act in 2011 in Federal Court.

This is one promise I am glad to hear the Abbott government breaking, although it will no doubt lead to months of publicly crying like a baby from Andrew Bolt and others like him.

Andrew Bolt must be fighting back the tears

To those of us who accept people from all walks of life and backgrounds without judgement this is a huge win. It is a huge win also because it has proven that if there is a large enough outcry the government elected to represent us will eventually listen to us and may truly represent us instead of their nutty mates.

Australians have spoken with a united voice on this issue and boldly stated that it is not acceptable to vilify someone due to their race in this country.

Australians have heeded the old saying of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Australians accept that we are part of a multicultural society and that means that we should accept people of all races as they are part of the fabric of our great nation.

We’ve been a multicultural society ever since us white folk invaded aboriginal land.

It also shows that Australians are wise enough to recognise that the campaign of fear being perpetrated by those on the right is not working.

The campaign I speak of is the campaign that attempts to portray the extremists and the radical as part of the norm within some sections of society. An example of this would be the campaign about how one day we will have sharia law in Australia if we don’t do something now, as that is what all Muslims are apparentlyseeking.

I’m sure most of you have heard something along a similar line.

This is of course complete and utter crap. We are more likely to see Elvis as our Prime Minister than we are to introduce sharia law here.

Much to the displeasure of the racists and right-wingers we are an overwhelmingly decent society and we long to remain so.

As much as Andrew Bolt and others like him may subtly preach hate and fear, sadly for them most of their listeners and readers aren’t that easily led and are quite capable of differentiating between political commentary and the rantings of a fuckwit.

On this broken promise from the Coalition, I have two words to say.

I say these two words not because of any religious views (I’m an atheist), but because I think today is a great day to be proud of our nation’s ability to accept others and to make a stand against racism in all its forms, plus I can think of no other words that will piss off the right wingers more.

Praise Allah.
 
Follow Wixxy at his blog Wixxyleaks

Nuts come out after the truth has bolted

October 1, 2011

The usual reactionaries have risen as one in defence of Andrew Bolt, the Melbourne columnist and village idiot, convicted on Wednesday for breaching the Racial Discrimination Act. An attack on freedom of speech, they howled. A dark day for democracy.

Since the verdict, Bolt himself has played the martyred victim, drenched in self-pity, a sickening spectacle.

His fellow Murdoch hack, Miranda Devine, invoked the spectre of Nazi concentration camps, thereby immediately losing the argument. The shadow attorney general, George Brandis, blathered about George Orwell’s 1984.

Most ludicrous of all, one Sinclair Davidson, a Melbourne economics professor and, predictably, a “Senior Fellow” at that sink of right wing propaganda, the Institute of Public Affairs, wants to scrap the law altogether and let “market forces” punish discrimination. This is not satire. He meant it.

What these savants ignore is that Bolt just got it wrong. That’s W-R-O-N-G. As Justice Moredecai Bromberg found, the columnist’s two offending emissions in the Murdoch Herald Sun were shot through with “gross errors”.

The bottom of Bolt’s rant was that pale-skinned Aborigines were more white than black, and should behave that way. Instead, they had decided in adult life to become “official” or “professional” blacks, thus muscling in on “other people’s glories” – jobs, preferment and prizes that should be reserved for proper Aborigines.

He sprayed special venom upon the academic Larissa Behrendt who, he claimed, had a German father. “Which people are ‘yours’, exactly, mein liebchen?” he sneered. Bolt clearly prefers his darkies dark.

In fact, Behrendt’s father was a black Australian. She – and the other eight plaintiffs in the case – were raised from infancy in Aboriginal culture and society. Given that crashing blunder, the rest of his stuff falls in a heap, exposed for the racist garbage it was.

The judge did not smother free speech. He skewered dud journalism.

Bolt’s parents were from Holland. If he believes that freedom of speech carries a licence to spear people for their ethnicity, he will not then object to me suggesting he would do better to quit the media and take up growing tulips and making cheese. Wearing clogs. Ah, the Lying Dutchman.

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, Mynheer.

Mike Carlton is a columnist with The Age

Source