South Australia Attorney General Demands $20,000 From Web Commenter Who Called Him A Crook

from the atkinson's-demands dept

We've written a few times recently about South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson, who not only fears angry video gamers, but also upset a bunch of folks with a law that would ban anonymous political speech online during election season. After public outcry over that law, Atkinson quickly backed down and promised (1) not to enforce the law and (2) to repeal it after the election. Now, reader athe alerts us that perhaps the reason Atkinson wanted to outlaw anonymity is because in a case where an online newspaper commenter referred to Atkinson as a "crook" in a comment, Atkinson is now demanding $20,000 from the guy. Seriously.

Apparently, there was a story about Atkinson, and in the comments to that story, one Dean McQuillan -- who was not anonymous and did use his name -- vented his frustration with Atkinson by referring to him as a "crook." In the political realm this is a pretty typical and somewhat benign epithet. You would think that someone in politics for as long as Atkinson would brush it off. No way. He apparently sent legal nastygrams to the newspaper, who removed the comments quickly and then later was pressured to post a separate apology. Then he sent a letter to McQuillan with the following demands:

1. $20,000 as compensation; 2. Publication of a full retraction and apology to be posted on the Adelaide Now website;

Honestly, I can't recall a politician ever demanding cash as "compensation" from someone over a random insult. As for "defamation," it's not like anyone reading those comments would think that Atkinson was actually a crook because some guy in the comments to a newspaper called him that. But, you might think that those reading stories about this $20,000 might think a lot worse of Atkinson than anyone reading about a random commenter calling him a crook.

Filed Under: australia, defamation, michael atkinson, south australia

New South Australian Law Forbids Anonymous Political Commentary During Election Season

from the freedom-of-speech-also-includes-anonymous-speech dept

A bunch of folks have sent in the news of a new law in South Australia that forbids any anonymous political commentary leading up to elections. Literally, the law reads:

"A person must not during an election period, publish material consisting of, or containing a commentary on, any candidate or political party, or the issues being submitted to electors, in written form, in a journal published in electronic form on the internet or by radio or television or broadcast on the internet, unless the material or the program in which the material is presented contains a statement of the name and address (not being a post office box) of a person who takes responsibility for the publication of that material."

Apparently, things like The Federalist Papers would not have been welcome in South Australia. It's clearly a method of censorship, though, of course, the guy behind it, Michael Atkinson, is spinning it as the opposite of censorship: "The real point of this legislation is not blocking or censoring freedom of speech -- it's just making sure freedom of speech is attributed to the right person."

Reader cofiem points out that Atkinson has a bit of a history as being technologically reactionary, such as his strong support for banning video games that he feels are too violent even for adults. Cofiem also points to some of the legislative history behind this, which includes Atkinson making it clear that this law should apply to "blog sites, Wikipedia and internet newspapers" but thankfully he does "not want to go into twittering because that is too much like individual communication over a mobile phone. So, that is where we are putting the boundary." Phew. Each political Twitter won't need to be accompanied by your address.

That same report suggests that Atikinson has aimed this legislation at a particular online publication that he does not like:

It is being supported by Atkinson in the most appalling way -- the news reports quote him apparently frothing at the mouth about 'Adelaidenow', which the law seems implicitly to target;

Nice use of elected office to try to stifle the ability of your critics to speak freely.

Filed Under: anonymity, australia, free speech, michael atkinson, politics, south australia