The US has put more of its weight against Senator Conroy’s internet filter.

Speaking on the ABC’s Q&A, Jeff Bleich, US ambassador to Australia, said child pornographers can be captured and prosecuted without resorting internet filtering.

What weve said is we have been able to accomplish the goals that Australia has described, which is to capture and prosecute child pornographers and others who use the internet for terrible purposes, without having to use internet filters, said Bleich. We have other means and we are willing to share our efforts with them in order to allow them to at least look at a range of choices as opposed to moving in one particular direction.”

He went on to say he had made the US’s stance on internet censorship clear to the Australian Government. Bleich described the discussions as healthy.

On the issue of the internet we have been very clear. The internet needs to be free… It needs to be free the way we have said skies have to be free, outer space has to be free, the polar caps have to be free, the oceans have to be free. Theyre shared resources of all the people in the world.