Such changes, which are opposed by civil libertarians, could have a major impact on news websites that offer readers the opportunity to comment, and on internet service providers that currently work voluntarily with the Human Rights Commission to remove racist material.
At its most serious, online racism is dealt with under the Commonwealth Criminal Code, which can punish those who urge people to harm other Australians because of their race.
But when there is no obvious intent to incite violence, the commission has only limited powers.
Race Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes said there were clearly ”persistent pockets of racism in Australia” linked to attacks on Indian students and cyber racism.
”There is no getting away from it,” he said. ”Cyber racism is a result of that, as are the attacks on Indian students, and we need to address it.”
Premier John Brumby and Victoria Police have insisted there is no evidence that most attacks against Indian students in Melbourne are racially motivated. The stance has infuriated India, contributing to a damaging rift. Mr Innes said complaints about cyber racism made up 18 per cent of all racism complaints received by the commission.
He said the Racial Discrimination Act should be changed to allow prosecutions in serious cases of internet racism.
Currently, the commission can only resolve racial complaints through conciliation with internet service providers and social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
In recent years, there has been a proliferation of apparently racist social networking groups such as SPEAK ENGLISH OR PISS OFF!!! (SEOPO), with almost 50,000 members, “F— Off We’re Full” and ”Mate speak English, you’re in Australia now”.
But civil libertarians are concerned the changes could have unintended consequences, creating a divide and hardening racist attitudes in the community.
Liberty Victoria president Michael Pearce said legislating to police racism on the internet was difficult and the government would be better off putting resources into community education and improving social cohesion.
