ACLU/EM OPPOSES INTERNET FILTERING BILL
House Bill Would Require All Schools and Libraries to Place Filtering Software on Their Internet Terminals
St. Louis, January 19, 2000: A bill which would require all public school and library internet terminals to be equipped with filtering software will be heard today at 3:00 in Hearing Room 1 by the Civil and Administrative Committee. The filtering mandate is part of the Governor's computer crime package introduced by Rep. Philip Smith as H.R. 1215. Public libraries and schools that provide access to the Internet would be required to equip their computers with 'software designed to prevent minors from gaining access to material which is pornographic' or 'purchase Internet connectivity from an Internet service provider that provides filtering services to limit access by minors to material which is pornographic.'
One federal court has already determined that the filtering of public library Internet terminals is a form of censorship and violates the U.S. Constitution's free speech guarantee. The case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia, was the first to determine the constitutionality of software that seeks to filter so-called pornographic material. In testimony that will be submitted today by the ACLU of Eastern Missouri, committee members will be reminded that any form of censorship violates the First Amendment and be shown how placing filtering software on public library and school Internet terminals amounts to censorship. ACLU-EM will also offer suggestions on how to create policies which both pass constitutional muster and achieve the government's stated purpose of protecting children.
'The fact of the matter is, the filtering software which is now on the market filter out far too much educational and constitutionally protected material,' said ACLU of Eastern Missouri Executive Director Matt LeMieux. 'Requiring schools and especially public libraries to place this software on all their computers is censorship, plain and simple. We would hope that committee members take a long and hard look at what these devices actually filter out before passing a mandate which relinquishes librarians' control over their computers and allows some software manufacturer to determine what is part of a library's Internet collection of information.'
A similar bill being pushed by Senator John McCain in the U.S Senate is also being opposed by the ACLU, American Library Association and other free speech advocates.