Does The Goverment Has The Right To

Censor The Internet. Essay, Research Paper

Subject:Computer Science

Titile:Does The Government Have The Right To Censor The Internet.

The Internet is a method of communication and a source of information

that is becoming popular among those who are interested in the

information superhighway. The problem with this world we know as

Cyberspace, the ‘Net, or the Web is that some of this information,

including pornographical material and hate literature, is being

accessible to minors.

Did you know that 83.5% of the images available on the Internet are

pornographical. Did you know that the Internet’s pornography and hate

literature are available to curious children that happen to bump into

them.

One of the drawing features of the young Internet was its freedom. It’s

“…a rare example of a true, modern, functional anarchy…there are no

official censors, no bosses, no board of directors, no stockholders”

(Sterling). It’s an open forum where anyone can say anything, and the

only thing holding them back is their own conscience.

This lawless atmosphere bothered many people, including Nebraska Senator

James Exon. Exon

proposed in July, 1994 that an amendment be added to the

Telecommunications Reform Bill to regulate content on the Internet. His

proposal was rejected at the time, but after persistence and increased

support, his proposal evolved into the Communications Decency Act (CDA),

part of the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act The Internet has changed

the world by creating advertising, information, and businesses. However,

there are the few bad apples in the Internet that have information,

literature, graphics and images that have been deemed inappropriate for

minors. Therefore, many people feel the Internet should be censored by

the Government. The Government owns and operates the Internet and its

agencies are responsible for what is on the Internet. However, for the

parents with minors that are concerned about what their kids see- they

should go out and get software to censor the Internet. Don’t ruin

everyone else’s fun. Why should I have to be a peasant of the Government

tyranny over the Internet. The people that worry about their kids and

make the Government worry about it and pass legislation on censorship

are the people that are too damn lazy to buy Internet Censorship

software programs for their PERSONAL computers, NOT the entire United

States’. The Government wants censorship, but a segment of the

Internet’s population does not.

The Communications Decency Act is an amendment which prevents the

information superhighway from becoming a computer “red light district.”

Thursday, February 1, 1996, was known as “Black Thursday” on the

Internet

when Congress passed (House 414-9, Senate 91-5) into legislation the

Telecommunication Reform Bill, and attached to it the Communications

Decency Act. It was then signed into law by President Clinton one week

later on Thursday, February 8, 1996 known as the “Day of Protest” when

the Internet simultaneously went black from hundreds of thousands of

Internet citizens turning their web pages black in protest of the

Communications Decency Act.

The Communications Decency Act which is supposed to protect minors from

accessing controversial or sexually explicit material, outlaws

“obscene…”, which already is a crime, and therefore the CDA is not

needed, but also “…lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent”, and even

“annoying” “… comment[s], request[s], suggestion[s], proposal[s],

image[s], or other communication “using a “…telecommunications device”

all of which are protected by the First Amendment and therefore cannot

be banned.

The Act is also unconstitutional because it does not follow the Supreme

Court’s decision in Sable Communications Vs. FCC. requiring that

restrictions on speech use the “least restrictive means” possible. The

Court also stated that restrictions on indecency cannot have the effect

of “reduc[ing] the adult population to only what is fit for children.”

We start with the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996, a

controversial piece of legislation signed into law by President Clinton

on February 8, 1996, and now under legal challenge by the American Civil

Liberties Union and others. The Communications Decency Act bans the

communication of “obscene or indecent” material via the Internet to

anyone under 18 years of age. (Telecommunications Act of 1996, Section

502, 47 U.S.C. Section 223[a].)

We all know that this new law resulted from a complex meshing of

political forces in an election year during which family values will

continue widely to be extolled. But, is this part of the new federal law

legal. All of us have heard of the First Amendment to the United States

Constitution. It states in pertinent part that “Cong

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