NEWS: Internet Censorship

Free speech victory fires filtering row

The American government is to meet librarians and other groups to discuss how to 'make the Internet safe for children', now that the Communications Decency Act has met its demise.

In a decision, which is likely to be a pivotal point in the development of the Internet as a medium, the American Supreme Court declared on 26 June that the legislation was an infringement of the constitutional right to free speech. The decision was unanimous and vindicates the earlier ruling by the state court of Philadelphia.

The American Library Association, one of the lead plaintiffs in opposing the legislation, declared that the ruling was 'a victory for librarians'.

President Mary Somerville said the decision meant that 'Americans will enjoy the same access to information in cyberspace that we have on library and bookstore shelves. It means parents can decide for their own children what they do - and don't - want them to read.'

Judith Krug, Director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, said that the court's ruling 'recognised not only the importance of this new communications format, but also the importance of libraries in making information in all forms available and accessible to everyone. This decision means we can continue to do our jobs without fear of prosecution.'

While this resolves a large part of the issue, by making it clear that any restriction on Internet viewing will not be legislation-driven, it is not likely to go away. In a carefully worded statement, the White House made clear that it now favours the filtering of sites as a way of ensuring that children are protected from unsuitable material.

'We can and must develop a solution for the Internet that is as powerful for the computer as the v-chip will be for the television, ' says Mr Clinton, 'and that protects children in ways that are consistent with America's free- speech values. With the right technology and rating systems, we can help ensure that our children don't end up in the red light districts of cyberspace.'

As reported in the Record in recent months, filtering software is itself controversial amongst library authorities in the States. As with legislation, the difficulty is what legitimate information may be blocked in the attempt to prevent minors, or indeed adults, from accessing pornography.

The ALA fought shy of making any policy statement on filtering software until the legislation was resolved, although it has made some dubious noises about its efficacy and its compatibility with the principles of free speech.

Its immediate response has been to accentuate the positive and launch a new 'Parent Education Campaign about the Internet', which encourages parents to help their children be 'Webwise'. The Librarian's Guide to Cyberspace for Parents and Kids has been made available on a toll-free number in the US, and is also published on its Web site http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites.

'It is important to remember that the vast majority of Internet sites offer valuable opportunities for learning and entertainment,' Ms Somerville says. The accompanying guidelines put the emphasis on understanding what children are up to and teaching them the etiquette (and the dangers) of interacting online.

But the debate over filtering software or 'censorware', as it is being dubbed, is liable to intensify over the next few weeks.

A substantial faction take the view that, while the software is imperfect, it is still better than nothing. David Burt, the author of a forthcoming piece in defence of filtering, which is to appear in the August issue of American Libraries, goes so far as to describe the ALA's implicitly anti-filtering approach as a'massive disinformation campaign'.

Others believe that the cost, in terms of the valuable information that will be filtered out, are likely to outweigh the benefits and that there is a philosophical difficulty with this form of information control.

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Last updated: 29 July 97