|
|
|
Will Doherty
Electronic Frontier Foundation and Online Policy Group |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Introduction and Disclaimer |
|
Controversy and Community Resources |
|
Censorship Legislation and Policies: |
|
Governments |
|
Internet Service Providers |
|
Circumvention |
|
Digital Divide |
|
Discussion |
|
Bibliography |
|
|
|
|
Media Relations Director of Electronic Frontier
Foundation focusing on Internet blocking and censorship issues. |
|
Founder and Executive Director of Online Policy
Group (OPG), with the motto “One Internet With Equal Access for All” |
|
Formerly Director of Online Community
Development at Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation |
|
Twenty+ years of experience as a computing
consultant and online activist |
|
In the early 1980's, worked on ARPANET,
precursor of the Internet |
|
Served as the Globalization Operations Manager
at Sybase, Inc., and as a Localization Program Manager and a Technical
Writer for Sun Microsystems, Inc. |
|
Designed and implemented Internet strategies and
websites for many nonprofit community and advocacy organizations |
|
MBA from Golden Gate University and a BS in
Computer Science and Writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
|
|
|
|
This presentation is for informational purposes
only. It does not constitute legal advice nor does it create an
attorney/client relationship. |
|
Consult an attorney if you are considering
anything that may engender a legal risk. |
|
|
|
|
Child Porn
(illegal and hard to find) |
|
Adult Porn (easy to find) |
|
Prostitution (escort services) |
|
Stalking |
|
Scams |
|
Stings (police entrapment) |
|
Infidelity |
|
Fantasy Dating |
|
Porn Spam |
|
Chatroom STDs |
|
|
|
|
AOL SFM4M chatroom Syphilis “outbreak” in
mid-1999: |
|
AOL refused to provide contact tracing
information to San Francisco Department of Public Health without court
order |
|
Voluntary contact tracing online through screen
names identified additional syphilis cases (40%+ tested) |
|
Privacy of chatroom users respected |
|
Sex online obviously carries no STD risk |
|
|
|
|
JAMA publishes articles in July 26, 2000: |
|
CDC study suggests Internet-related sex may
carry a greater risk of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases |
|
Gay and bisexual males meeting online for sex
more frequently than other groups |
|
More oral and anal sex with more partners |
|
Twice as likely to have sex with HIV+ people |
|
Study didn’t check for risky and risk reduction
behaviors |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many people find the Internet a great source of
information on sexuality and health |
|
A multitude of resources |
|
Accessible anonymously (at least in theory) |
|
How to distinguish reliable resources? |
|
|
|
|
Categories of information available include: |
|
Abstinence/Safer Sex |
|
Adolescent Sexual Development and Puberty |
|
General Sexual Info |
|
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex,
Queer, and Questioning (LGBTIQQ) |
|
Sex Education/Teaching Sex |
|
Sexual Health/non-STD |
|
Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) |
|
Teens and Sex |
|
and lots more… |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Go Ask Alice: Columbia University's sex and
health information site at goaskalice.com |
|
Coalition for Positive Sexuality: sexual
education with a positive attitude at positive.org |
|
SAFETeen Project for GLBTQ at gayplace.com (may
be defunct) |
|
gURL.com, a Webzine for teenage girls |
|
Sex, Etc., an award-winning newsletter produced
by and for teens at Rutgers University’s Network for Family Life Education,
at www.sxetc.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
“To me, the Internet has been a lifeline to
other gay, lesbian and bisexual youth. It’s not easy finding resources for
youth. The Net has been a place where I know I am not alone and there are
resources to help us on our adventure through life that at times can be
extremely difficult.”
— Marie, age 17 |
|
[This and the next slide quoted from Access
Denied, published by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
(GLAAD).] |
|
|
|
|
“I was totally ostracized after coming out, and
I almost went crazy. All my friends at school dumped me. I didn’t do any
work at all. I stopped going to any activities I was in, like sports
because there I was not welcome either. I gained weight, and was
mercilessly hounded because of that. I was teased, rejected, and taunted
because I was different. Then I found people like me, teenagers across the
country who were fighting themselves, trying to be different to make people
happy, and being miserable themselves. One of my friends committed suicide.
But, the Internet really helped the rest of us, and now I’m out and happy
with it.”
— Sea, age 13 |
|
|
|
|
Q: So with all these great resources, what’s the
catch? |
|
A: Sorry, it’s been censored! |
|
|
|
|
|
No broad Internet censorship yet found
constitutional: |
|
Communications Decency Act (CDA) |
|
Child Online Protection Act (COPA) |
|
Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) |
|
Legal focus on: |
|
Obscenity |
|
Child Pornography |
|
Harmful to Minors |
|
|
|
|
Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) of
2000 requires schools and libraries that receive certain federal funding or
discounts to install a “technology protection measure” like Internet
filtering software. |
|
The U.S. Supreme Court should decide soon on an
appeal of the library portion of CIPA. |
|
No one has filed a legal challenge against the
school portion of CIPA that requires schools to install filtering software,
damaging the educational opportunities of millions of U.S. students. |
|
|
|
|
|
Local Jurisdictions: |
|
Holland, MI (referendum requiring Internet
blocking defeated by popular vote) |
|
Livermore, CA (Kathleen R., mother whose son
brought porn home from library, non-blocking policy upheld by court) |
|
Loudon County, VA (strict adult blocking
requirement overturned by court) |
|
San Francisco, CA (against blocking) |
|
Santa Clara, CA (blocking in children’s area
only with access to adult area) |
|
|
|
|
“Harmful to minors”: Ginsberg v. New York, 390
U.S. 629 (1968) |
|
Obscenity:
Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973) |
|
Child pornography: New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S.
747 (1982) |
|
CDA and Internet speech: Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S.
844 (1997) |
|
COPA: ACLU v. Ashcroft, 217 F.3d 162 (3d Cir.
2000) |
|
CIPA: Multnomah Co. Library v. USA combined with
American Library Association v. USA (2002) |
|
Blocking: Mainstream Loudoun v. Bd. of Trustees
of the Loudoun County Library, 24 F.Supp.2d 552 (E.D.Va. 1998) |
|
Library’s role: Kreimer v. Bureau of Police, 958
F.2d 1242, 1255 (3d Cir. 1992) (“quintessential locus of the receipt of
information”) |
|
Library liability: Kathleen R. v. City of
Livermore and librarian working conditions case |
|
|
|
|
Don't block all they are supposed to block |
|
Block lots they are not supposed to block: collateral
damage |
|
Bias through categorization and categorization
scheme |
|
Humans can't cover the entire gigantic evolving
web or keep up with all the changes |
|
Software cannot judge due to complexity of human
culture and language |
|
Cannot distinguish legal materials from illegal
materials |
|
Circumvented by clever “children” |
|
Reduce system performance with crashes, etc. |
|
|
|
|
Some illegally obscene, child pornographic, and
harmful to minors materials |
|
Lots of “controversial” content:
Activist
groups, civil rights groups, reproductive and child abuse info, lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender community sites, Democrat more than
Republican sites, critics of blocking products, etc. |
|
Lots of totally “non-controversial”
materials
US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, the Bible,
the Book of Mormon, the Koran, Smithsonian Institution, San Diego Zoo, the
American Red Cross, Republican Congressional Candidate Pollock’s site,
blocking product sites themselves, etc. |
|
|
|
|
Extracted all topics from state-mandated
curriculums for CA, MA, NC |
|
Generated Google search results |
|
Checked against two Internet blocking products
most commonly used in schools |
|
Tens of thousands of web pages blocked
inappropriately |
|
For every web page blocked as advertised,
collateral damage of at least one other page improperly blocked |
|
Sexuality sites targeted especially for
blocking, even if strictly educational and non-pornographic |
|
|
|
|
“Adolescence and Abstinence Fact Sheet” from
SIECUS blocked by SurfControl using “Adult/Sexually Explicit” block code |
|
“Sex: Contraception: Natural Methods” on
thesite.org blocked by N2H2 Bess using “Adults Only, Pornography” block
codes |
|
“Identities” from sextalk.org blocked by N2H2
Bess using “Electronic Commerce” block code |
|
“Emotional Changes” from kotex.com blocked by
SurfControl using “Sex” block code |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Sexual Harassment and Discrimination - Legal
Process” on sexharassment.net blocked by N2H2 Bess using “Pornography”
block code |
|
“Power and Love” bulletin board blocked by
SurfControl using “Adult/Sexually Explicit” block code |
|
Search for “GLBT* Employee Groups” at Rainbow
Query blocked by SurfControl using “Adult/Sexually Explicit” block code |
|
Search for “Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual: Family
and Relationships: Domestic Violence” at dmoz.org blocked by N2H2 Bess
using “Tasteless/Gross, Jokes, Profanity, Sex” block codes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Does Sex Education Work?” from SexAbouT.net
blocked by N2H2 Bess using “Pornography, Sex” block codes |
|
Family Health International home page blocked by
SurfControl using “Sex Education” block code |
|
Redbook’s “Guide for Infertile Couples” blocked
by N2H2 Bess using “Tasteless/Gross” block code |
|
“Testicular Cancer” self-exam page designed for
males 15-25 years old by safe-sex.co.uk blocked by SurfControl using
“Adult/Sexually Explicit” block code |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
“Youth Services” page at Family Planning
Victoria blocked by N2H2 Bess using “Pornography” block code |
|
“Sexuality” at about.com blocked by SurfControl
using “Adult/Sexually Explicit” block code |
|
“Sex, Are You Thinking About It Enough?”
designed for under age 18 readers by ruthinking.co.uk blocked by N2H2 Bess
using “Sex” block code |
|
Rape Crisis Center of Central Massachusetts home
page blocked by N2H2 Bess using “Pornography” block code |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
70% of 15-17 year olds in US have used Internet
to access health information (not necessarily sex-related) |
|
December 2002 study by Kaiser Family Foundation
found blocking software settings important |
|
Low settings: 1 in 10 health sites related to
“condoms,” “safe sex,” or “gay” blocked, although all but 1.4% of health
information available and 87% of porn blocked |
|
Intermediate: 27% of health sites related to
“condoms,” 20% of health sites related to “safe sex,” and 24% of health
sites related to “gay” blocked |
|
High: 24% of health info, 50% of sexual health
info, 59% of “gay” and “lesbian,” and 91% of porn blocked |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Media Literacy Education |
|
Parents, teachers, librarians, administrators,
students, patrons |
|
New technologies often engender fears due to
speculation and unknown outcomes |
|
Education reduces fears that children know
technology better than adults |
|
Internet Use Policies |
|
Fashioned with local community input and
according to local community standards (already adopted by 95% of US
libraries) |
|
Respecting community diversity and
constitutional protections |
|
Supportive Supervision (non-invasive) |
|
Referrals for Problem Cases |
|
|
|
|
On March 9, 2002, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) removed a National Prevention Information Network
(NIPN) website link to positive.org, the Coalition for Positive Sexuality
(CPS) website, apparently due to pressure from the right-wing Physicians
Consortium and Focus on the Family. |
|
Positive.org explains to youth how to protect
themselves from disease by engaging in safe sex practices, such as wearing
a condom to prevent HIV transmission. The site also offers information
about birth control, abortion, and sexual orientation. |
|
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
spokesperson said USDA to remove links to positive.org and possibly others
from cyfernet.org |
|
Online Policy Group issued an action alert and
the community responded with phone calls, faxes, and emails to CDC and
USDA. |
|
|
|
|
Governments intentionally censoring sexuality
materials: |
|
Australia (nationwide Internet blocking law) |
|
China’s “Great Firewall” (sexuality and other
materials) |
|
Saudi Arabia (sexuality and other materials) |
|
South Korea (mandatory rating system) |
|
United States (sex, drugs, and “terrorism”) |
|
United Kingdom (House of Commons email
filtering) |
|
Governments intentionally censoring only other
materials: |
|
Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain) |
|
|
|
|
US Internet service providers refuse service: |
|
MSN “breast” searches prohibited (following a
long tradition begun by AOL and others) |
|
AOL booted Triangle News gay newspaper site |
|
Yahoo account closures: sexuality and gender
support groups (AEON, Guerilla Queer Bar, SF Queer Longhairs…) |
|
Growing trend of corporate censorship |
|
|
|
|
Seemingly contradictory to CIPA, U.S.
Representative Christopher Cox re-introduced in Jan. 2003 the Global
Internet Freedom Act (H.R. 48), which would provide $100 million over two
years to help private companies circumvent censorship by foreign
governments. Bill status: under review by House International Relations
Committee. |
|
|
|
|
Attempts to subvert censorship by penetrating
government firewalls have included efforts from Peekabooty.org and
Hacktivismo.com (6/4). |
|
SafeWeb’s last remaining client for the
TriangleBoy blocking circumvention software is one of the Voice of
America’s projects to drill holes in the Great Firewall of China. |
|
Peacefire.org distributes circumvention tools
for commercial blocking products. |
|
|
|
|
|
The gap between those who have computers and
rich Internet access and those who do not |
|
Economic and racial gaps to bridge |
|
CIPA’s Double Whammy of Internet censorship: |
|
Hits schools and libraries in lower-income areas |
|
Students and library patrons in lower-income
areas least likely to have alternative access at home |
|
Censorship gap for sexual and gender communities |
|
|
|
|
American Library Association:
http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/index.html |
|
Ben Edleman and Jonathan Zittrain at Harvard
University: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/ |
|
Censorware: http://www.censorware.net |
|
Chris Hunter at Annenburg School: http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/chunter |
|
Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.org |
|
Electronic Frontier Australia: http://www.efa.org.au |
|
Electronic Privacy Information Center: http://www.epic.org |
|
Freedom of Expression Network: http://www.freeexpression.org |
|
Freedom to Read Foundation: http://www.ftrf.org |
|
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
(Access Denied): http://www.glaad.org |
|
Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC): http://www.gilc.org/ |
|
|
|
|
Judith Levine’s Harmful to Minors: The Perils of
Protecting Children from Sex, pp.
15-17, 143-150. |
|
Karen Schneider’s “A Practical Guide to Internet
Filters”: email kgs@bluehighways.com |
|
LSSI Campaign in Spain:http://www.ugr.es/~aquiran/cripto/tc-lssi.htm |
|
Online Policy Group (Online Service Provider
Assessment): http://www.onlinepolicy.org |
|
Peacefire: http://www.peacefire.org |
|
|
|
|
American Family Assocation: http://www.afa.org/ |
|
Enough Is Enough: http://www.enough.org/ |
|
Filtering Facts: http://www.filterfacts.org/ |
|
Filtering Info: http://www.filteringinfo.org/ |
|
GetNetWise: http://www.getnetwise.org/ |
|
NetMom: http://netmom.com/ikyp/samples/ask_protect11.shtml |
|
National Law Center for Children and Families:
http://www.nationallawcenter.org/ |
|
|
|
|
Ryan Berg, EFF Intern |
|
Francis Ho, EFF/OPG Volunteer |
|
And all the other EFF and OPG staff, interns,
and volunteers who assisted with the forthcoming Internet Blocking in
Schools study |
|
Notes
