Censorship on the Internet From Filters to Freedom of Speech Ying Shi

Wendy Herumin Contents Exploring the Internet Concerns on Cyberspace Censorship on the Internet Schools, Free Speech, and the Web

Exploring the Internet Changes: 20 years ago, only few people had access to computer In 2002, more than 605 million prople worldwide were using the Internet. Researchers and scientists were the first to go online, and needed certain amount of training. New services help more members of the general public to use the Internet.

Exploring the Internet (cont.) The World Wide Web links users to millions of different sites at the click of a mouse.

Exploring the Internet (cont.) Regulations on differen media Broadcast vs. Print Media Radio and TV are more closely regulated by government Over-the-air broadcasts reach the public more easily for printed materials, people must be literate and make effort to find them broadcasting industry must work to protect children from inappropriate language and images

Exploring the Internet (cont.) In 1996, the court in philadelphia ruled that the Internet was more like the print media than the broadcast media. The courts have given books, magazines, newspapers, and other print media more freedom from regulation than other form of mass communications Therefore, the Internet enjoys this high level of freedom First Amendment attorney Robet S. Peck wrote: The U.S Supreme Court has concluded that cyberspace receives the highest level of protection that the First Amendment affords. As a result, the same considerations that apply to printed words and images apply as well as the electronic word and the digital images.

Concerns on Cyberspace Concerns for young Internet users Inappropriate content Harmful strangers Invasion of Privacy

Concerns on Cyberspace (cont.) Inappropiate content Pornography Bomb-making instructions Hate Speech Violence toward animals and humans Information about illegal drugs, gambling The sites promote religious cults, witchcraft

Concerns in Cyberspace (cont.) Pornography Difficult to make definition According to NRC, pornography means sexually explicit "materials that is used to create sexual arousal or desire." People use the term to mean both indecency and obscenity it is a subjective term Easy to find Internet search unsolicited e-mail, spam use deceptive links to lead people to porn sites mousetrapping

Conflicts in Cyberspace (cont.) Online Bomb-Making instructions

Concerns on Cyberspace (cont.) Hate Speech exalts one group of people by denigrating another on the basis of race or religion the Council of Europe regard hate speech as a serious offense and outlaw it on the Internet In America, free speech traditions protect offensive speech "Even where the United States government finds the views expressed to be misguided and repugnant-and surely those are appropriate words to describe racism-our Constitution commands that we neither prohibit nor regulate speech merely because we disapprove of the ideas expressed." ---Department of Justice

Concerns on Cyberspace (cont.) Harmful Strangers According to a report from NRC, potentially harmful strangers pose the greatest threat to children online Meeting a sexual predator through a chat room or e-mail is far more dangerous than viewing inappropriate images A study found that one in five young peope aged 10-17 received an unwanted sexual solicitation on the Internet Some of them had been encouraged by people they met on the Internet to run away from home.

Concerns on Cyberspace (cont.) Cyberpredators Use the Internet to disguise themselves and their intentions. Young users may put themselves in danger if they give away too much information or plan to meet people they do not know. The Sexual Predator Punishment Act (1998) The act made it illegal to contact minors online for sexual purposes or to transmit obscenity to them

Concerns on Cyberspace (cont.) Invasion of privacy Children are giving away personal informations about themselves as surfing the Web Young people leave their names and e-mail address in public place like chat rooms In 1998, Federal Trade Commission surveyed 212 comercial children's sites, 188 of the sites were building files of personal informations. Less than 48 sites told visitors to ask for their parents' permission before giving out informations.

Censorship on the Internet How to censorship on the Internet Law enforcement CDA COPA CIPA Technology tools Filters

Censorship on the Internet (cont.) CDA the Communications Decency Act (1996) made it a crime to send inappropriate material over the Internet to a person under 18 the act apply to all forms of Internet communication including e-mail, chat rooms, newsgroups, and WWW a person could be fined, sent to jail, or both while violating force Web site operators make effort to keep minors from finding inappropriate material establish a credit card vertification scheme to screen out minors

Censorship on the Internet (cont.) COPA The Child Online Protection Act (1998) " the son of the CDA" Differed from CDA in 3 improtant ways apply only to material on WWW, not to other services only commercial pornographers were targeted use a more precise legal definition to describe objectionable materials regulate content that is "harmful to minors"

Censorship on the Internet (cont.) CIPA the Children's Internet Protection Act (2000) Require schools and libraries to put technology protection measures on their computer networks. Libraries and schools could lose federal funds unless they kept minors from finding harmful material on the Internet. Adults in public libraries could not use library computers to find inappropriate material.

Censorship on the Internet (cont.) Technology Tools Filters: use one or more technologies to restrict forbidden contents Use lists of Internet address to steer where you go online. "white" lists vs. "black" lists Use keyword blocking. eg. "sex", "satan" label recognition. assign a rating, similar to movies', but not widely used

Censorship on the Internet (cont.) Filters Over-block filters can block legal and useful informations why it happens? Rapidlly changing information on the internet Entire Web site is blocked because of a single page Different opinion may account for some over-blocking Under-block filters cannot block all objectionable material on the Internet Consumer Reports tested leading software filters in 2001, filters allowed 20% of the objectionable sites through in their entirety.

Schools, Free Speech, and the Web Most schools now have Internet access in the U.S. Students can use the Internet to master skills, perform research, and connect with others

Schools, Free Speech, and the Web (cont.) How schools protect students online Accoriding to a survey in 2002, 78% of school relied on teachers to supervise online activities, 90% had installed filtering software on school computer Filters regulate online user in several ways: limit the amont of time block controversial materials keep students from visiting chat rooms or newsgroups avoid giving out sensitive information such as address

Schools, Free Speech, and the Web (cont.) Off-campus Web sites raise questions Students create Web pages at home disturb school administrators criticize teachers, school policies, and classmates contain threatening words Case: a Pennsylvania eighth grader treatened to kill his math teacher in 1998

Schools, Free Speech, and the Web (cont.) A victory for students for free speech

Schools, Free Speech, and the Web (cont.) An Ongoing debate Schools and students continue to debate freedom of speech offline and in cyberspace Filters are controversial in school as in libraries School clamp down on activities when they threaten the stability of the school environment Students challenge rules they believe to be unfair Still discovering how to best use the internet

A Final Note The free speech debate affects young people Filters on school and library computers limit not only pronographic content but much useful and legal information, too. Children can be targets for cyberpredators and marketers. It is necessary to find a solution to protect minor online. Education, public policy, and technology tools all have a role to play. Responsible thinking and acting is a important first step to help young on the Internet

The end Any question?