Stuart Corner reports:
A law requiring all electoral matter posted on the Internet to be accompanied by the poster’s name and address conflicts with the need for users of social networking sites to maintain their privacy.
Consumer Group Digital Tasmania – supported by Electronic Frontiers Australia, Civil Liberties Australia and the Australian Privacy Foundation – has written to the Tasmanian Electoral Commissioner requesting the Commissioner not to enforce what it says is an unworkable section of Electoral Law. It has also sent the letter to Tasmanian premier David Bartlett and to the leaders of the Tasmanian Greens and the Tasmanian Liberals.
Section 191 of the Electoral Law requires at all electoral matter posted on the Internet be accompanied with an authorisation containing a person’s full name and home or work address. This, according to Digital Tasmanian would include any posts on Twitter relating to the election and any expressions of opinion on sites such as Facebook
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