NewsMax.com
Tuesday, March 20, 2001

Now the American Civil Liberties Union, in the company of the American Library Association, is going to tell its side of filtering Internet access in public libraries to the courts, which they hope will eventually include the Supreme Court.

Their ire is targeted at a relatively recent federal law requiring that Internet filters, designed to weed out smut, violence and other information deemed unsuitable for children, must be installed on public computers – or else.

The "or else" is loss of federal funds earmarked for Internet access.

According to the Associated Press:

Unless a judge grants an injunction, schools and libraries will have to install filters next month or lose those federal funds.

"We don't think this is a useful way to make sure that children have a safe and enriching experience online," said Nancy Kranich, president of the American Library Association, which will represent libraries and patrons in the suit.

On the other side of the argument are supporters of the law, such as Bruce Taylor, president of the National Law Center for Children and Families.

"If local schools and libraries are expecting the government to pay the freight, then there ought to be conditions on it," he said.

"Congress doesn't want taxpayers' money going to pedophiles and porn addicts."

That gets a strong disagreement from the ACLU's Emily Whitfield, who said the filter law affects not only children but adults who can't afford Internet access at home.

"You're really turning them into second-class citizens," she said. "They're getting a different Web experience than people who are not using library computers."

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