A Greensboro library is trying to solve the problem with technology
By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League
A mother takes her 10-year-old son to the public library to work on a school assignment, but as he passes a row of computer terminals he gets more than either bargained for — an eyeful of pornography. Too late this time, but is there anything that can be done to prevent this scenario from happening again without infringing on the First Amendment rights of library patrons?
Greensboro is trying to solve the problem with technology that doesn’t block porn Web sites, but dramatically slows the speed at which they load so to discourage porn seekers. The city, where 89 people were caught viewing porn at library computers during the first half of 2009, invested in a Cymphonix “bandwidth shaper.”
According to Tommy Joseph, manager of technology and reference, the library has been working with the new technology for about a year to fine-tune its configurations, but has had the system completely in place for only a few months. He said it appears to be working well though he won’t know for sure until he examines recent data.
Greensboro isn’t the only place officials are dealing with the issue. Many library systems use filters to help keep porn from popping up; others have resorted to privacy screens where only the user can see what is being viewed so as not to offend passersby. Both plans have drawbacks. Filters can inadvertently block medical sites or other sites that are not offensive. And though privacy screens can help protect children and others from seeing what they don’t want to, they don’t deal with the underlying issue — the fact that the public is paying for Internet access for computer users to view porn.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 21 states have Internet filtering laws that apply to public schools or libraries. Most of these simply require these institutions to adopt Internet use policies to keep minors from sexually explicit, obscene or harmful materials, while others specifically require publicly funded institutions to install filtering software.
In North Carolina, neither is the case. While the state has laws against obscene literature and exhibitions, disseminating harmful materials to minors, displaying material harmful to minors and preparation of obscene photographs, slides and movies, there is no state law that requires libraries or schools to adopt policies that will limit access to porn. However, in order to receive certain federal funds, libraries are subject to rules enacted in 2000 as the Federal Children’s Internet Protection Act. The law, upheld by a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, requires schools and libraries funded under three different programs to certify that they are using filtering software programs. Adult library patrons can request that the filter be disabled, but the rules prevent libraries from disabling it for underage users.
“Our first concern is that children not be exposed to pornography and then secondly that taxpayers not be forced to take part, via public funding, in spreading this filth,” said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. “We are glad to see Greensboro taking action that seeks to uphold First Amendment rights while discouraging porn seekers, and we also believe lawmakers should take a closer look at how North Carolina General Statutes might address this issue to make it more uniform across the state.”
Ironically, North Carolina laws make it illegal to display material harmful to minors in a commercial establishment. In other words, store owners who want to sell porn magazines must either have them wrapped, keep them in “blinder racks” that cover the lower two thirds of the cover or keep them behind the counter so that the portion harmful to minors is not open to their view. But that’s not the case when it comes to library computers. Obviously a computer user who lures a minor over to the screen to show him obscene images could be charged with dissemination, but the state has no law that says porn-covered screens cannot be in plain sight of anyone walking by or that libraries are bound to take any action to keep porn away from children.
Morality in Media Inc. president Robert Peters believes libraries should be held accountable to some degree for what children on their premises are exposed to.
“I would agree that librarians cannot completely fill parental shoes. But are we then to conclude that libraries have NO RESPONSIBILITY to shield children from harm?” he asked in a 2000 public hearing on this issue in New York City. Peters pointed out that not only do studies show that minors are increasingly accessing objectionable sites, but that even kids not seeking porn can be exposed to it by accident when they use search engines to browse the Web.
“Some Internet pornographers purposefully use words like whitehouse, Titanic or Madonna in their Web addresses or metatags to attract innocent seekers,” he said. “Other Internet pornographers use domain names that are very similar to those of popular web sites, knowing that many users will mistype the popular names.”
Despite the fact that porn purveyors are often steps ahead of those trying to stop them, Peters balks at the claim that filtering software is not effective and that it shouldn’t be used at all since it can’t stop every image and can sometimes block legitimate sites.
“This may be true, but does that mean screening technology must be flawless before a government agency can install it to protect children?” he asked.
The American Library Association has opposed any use of filtering software, a position endorsed by the North Carolina Library Association, which did not immediately respond this week to e-mail and phone call interview requests on this issue.
In Greensboro as in other libraries, before they can access a computer, patrons must agree that they will not use it for illegal purposes or to view sites that would be in violation of obscenity laws. Joseph said when a patron is caught viewing objectionable material he is immediately asked to take it down and if the violation is repeated or particularly egregious, he could be be banned for a day, a week or up to 30 days. He said if the problem continues, the patron could lose his library privileges for up to year, though he didn’t remember any recent incidents escalating to that point.
Prior to the bandwidth shaper, Greensboro did not use any technology to police computer use, but simply had staff keep an eye out for violations, which Joseph said they will continue to do.
“Nothing can take the place of vigilance on the part of parents and library staff — that is always needed,” said the Rev. Creech. “But we also urge libraries across the state who are not using filtering software or other technology to stem the flow of pornography to begin doing so and we suggest that our legislators consider laws to hold these organizations more accountable.”