Stewart McArthur (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to draw to the attention of the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts in the Senate, Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan, several matters of concern about identity security and safety protections regarding information posted on the MySpace internet site, which is a commercial service provided by News Corporation’s Fox Interactive Media.

On Wednesday, 25 July the Colac Herald newspaper in Corangamite reported what was accurately described as a ‘chilling image’ of a young person holding a high-powered rifle to the head of another person. This photo was posted on the Colac teenager’s MySpace website. I show that to members for them to see how terrible it was. Anyone could look on the internet and find this picture, without any warnings provided as to the nature of the content. MySpace is very popular with teenagers, and this example shows there is no security. If it is easy for a MySpace user to post a picture of a gun held to a head, it would be easy for pornographic and sexually suggestive images to be posted and for those pictures to be viewed by children.

The internet provides a welcome opportunity for young people to express themselves and network with their friends. It would be nice to see some protections to ensure the security of their private information and to protect users from harm. One has to wonder that the people behind MySpace Australia could be so lax in their security arrangements that such disturbing images could be posted without protections or warnings. This circumstance makes a mockery of whatever security procedures MySpace have in place and raises concerns with the competence of the people running the service.

The MySpace problems go further. On Wednesday, 1 August, the Colac Herald reported that the Colac Otway Shire Mayor, Councillor Warren Riches, was a victim of MySpace identity fraud. A fake MySpace page was established in his name to defame and ridicule the mayor. Councillor Riches is a distinguished member of the Colac and district community and he has given great service and leadership over many years. Because of MySpace security lapses Councillor Riches, a community figure, was forced to seek legal advice to protect his reputation. A mayor or a public figure should not have to go to the expense of seeking legal advice to protect his reputation. The example of Councillor Riches and many other people across our community demonstrates that those people responsible for identity security and information integrity within MySpace have failed in their duty of care to the public. I ask the minister to note that Councillor Riches had to wait two weeks, despite publicly threatening legal action, for the people running MySpace to remove the fake site.

A fake MySpace page was also established under my name, with a photograph. Whilst there might have been some conjecture about the name ‘McArthur’, there can be no doubt about the name and photograph being a well-known political identity in the electorate of Corangamite. The content was so offensive, vulgar and inflammatory that local media were not legally able to report the contents. The Geelong Advertiser reported that they could not print the comments ‘for legal reasons’. I show the Geelong Advertiser article, ‘A-List Cyber Fakes Anger’. It says, ‘Geelong identities fume over MySpace.’ This material was so extreme that the site was obviously fake, but the management of MySpace left this fraudulent site on the internet for over three months, smearing me, smearing the Liberal Party in Corangamite and smearing the Howard government.

When I was informed of this fake MySpace site last week my office sent an official request to MySpace to take down the site, using the complaints feature on the MySpace site. The next day a MySpace representative told the Geelong Advertiser the site had been removed as a result of media coverage, not as a result of the contact by my office. This raises further concerns about the effectiveness of MySpace’s complaints system and the people in charge. The official request from my office to remove this fake site has still not been acknowledged. Reputable media organisations would not be able to print some of the slurs, rumours and unauthorised comment that pass for content on MySpace. People use MySpace to smear reputations while hiding behind anonymity. If MySpace cannot more effectively ensure protection of individuals’ identities and reputations then MySpace management should be answerable for the content on the site.

Good people, whether they be public figures or private citizens, should not be at risk of having their reputations harmed on the internet. I encourage the minister to consider what action can be taken to protect people from identity fraud and access to pornographic and violent images on MySpace.

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