Special Tribute:
Thank
you Ed
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Plug the Hole An Open Letter Steven Brown, -ACLU Rhode Island Privacy
at the Workplace:
Protecting
Faith Versus Protecting Futures
Privacy
vs. the Public’s Right to Know
Chaplinsky:
Defining Freedom of Expression
Of
Genetics and Privacy
Editorial
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Notes from the Chair |
ThePSCReportonline!
A Semi-Quarterly Journal for the Alumni of the University
of Rhode Island Political Science Department.
Faculty Editors:
Professor Alfred Killilea
Professor Nicolai Petro
Editor:
Michael D. Fox
Associate Editor:
Sherry Keneson-Hall
Supported by the generous
donations of the University of Rhode Island Political
Science Alumni.
Sherry Keneson-Hall,
Assistant Editor
Master’s Candidate, Political Science
Porn Should Be Protected on the Net
Words such as "web cam," "cybersex," or even "internet" would have been completely foreign to the framers of the Constitution in 1787. Yet, 213 years later, the same document is being used to decide whether or not web sites are protected by the first amendment.
Today’s politicians must try to protect the rights of internet users, while also protecting children from violence and pornography on the net. One attempt to protect children from pornography was the Child Online Protection Act of 1998. This bill sought to stop pornographic web sites from using nude teasers until net users access the web pages with credit card numbers or personal identification numbers (http://www1.christianity.net/ct/8TE/8TE19a.html.) This bill was abandoned on November 20, 1998, after a federal judge said it the First Amendment
(http://www.freedomforum.org/speech/1998/11/20copa.asp.)
Former Republican Presidential candidate Gary Bauer used
the issue of censoring internet pornography as part of his platform. Bauer’s
web site (http://www.bauer2k.com) states the porn industry is more
popular now than ever, due to the internet. He promised to reverse the
trend by "reopening the obscenity prosecution operation at the Department
of Justice and by creating new sections within federal law enforcement
agencies whose major task is to prosecute adult obscenity and the international
sex slave trade."
But despite attempts by politicians to make accessing internet pornography difficult, it is still available. And it should be. Although the word pornography is not mentioned in the Constitution, it is still protected as part of free speech and free expression. People who do not want to see these sites can easily avoid them by not using words associated with sex. Accidents will happen, but most search engines provide a couple of lines before accessing a site, which tells users what to expect.
As for children viewing porn, it is unfortunate when a child witnesses something they are not ready to see, but the government is not a babysitter. Parents should take the reigns and check on what their children are viewing. This is not difficult, especially when a [history of web] sites visited button is available on the computer screen.
As children grow into teenagers, parents may have to become
savvier about monitoring their internet habits. Parents will have to search
under proverbial mattresses for pornography their kids may be viewing.
But asking parents to watch their own children is a small price to pay
when protecting freedom of speech. If the government is successful
at censoring pornography on the net, then the floodgates will open to censoring
anyone and anything and who knows what will be next.
Comments? Please contact Professor Al Killilea at: hookshot@uri.edu
The PSC Report invites unsolicited submissions (really, we need the material!!) of essays, articles and editorial comments. Submissions should be sent via e-mail to hookshot@uri.edu or via US Mail on 3 1/2" diskette or CD-ROM with hardcopy to:
The PSC Report
Al Killilea, Faculty Editor
Political Science Department
University of Rhode Island
Washburn Hall
Kingston, RI 02881