By Kenneth M. Lewter
Imagine that you sit down in front of your computer and check your e-mail. Then you receive a spam email that is an advertisement to join a particular pornography website to view pictures of nude women and watch video of adults participating in sexual acts. What is your initial reaction? Do you delete the e-mail and think nothing more of it, or do you get offended at the nudity and vulgar content? Depending on the person, you might receive a multitude of answers as different people view the issue of pornography on the internet in different ways.
Many people are very much against having pornography on the Internet. On the flip side, many people support this issue. For those against pornography on the Internet, the main concern is that pornography is too easily accessible on the Internet, according to Anita M. Thompson, single mother of a middle-school age daughter.
“It’s a medium that is uncontrollable on the Internet,” Thompson said. “Children can now access it much easier.”
There are no hard controls to ensure a person above the age of 18 or 21 are accessing this material. According to an article titled “Harm is just a mouse click away…” that was posted to the Internet by the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, there are more than 300,000 pornographic web sites on the Internet. The author, David Burt of N2H2, said, "this number is growing every day.” With the large amount of web sites at only a click away, the possibility that underage children are being exposed to pornographic material is far too likely.
Another reason people are against porn on the Internet is because of the tactics used by the adult entertainment industry to advertise their service. The adult entertainment industry has profited substantially from the exposure that the Internet has given them. They are supported by different businesses that support about 100,000 of these sites.
The National Academy of Sciences report, "the adult online entertainment industry generates about $1 billion a year in revenue from adults who pay to view the content.” The Academy also reports that according to the Nielsen/Net Ratings, "nearly 16 percent of visitors to adult-oriented sites in February 2002 were under the age of 18.” This type of exposure on the Internet is bound to find its way to underage children whether it is by accident or on purpose.
Lastly, pornography on the Internet has spawned a huge increase in child pornography and those who traffic in this type of material. Child pornography is a special case when it comes to making laws to prohibit the production and distribution of child pornography because it is considered obscene by definition, according to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court made this ruling because they felt that child pornography was harmful to children, and that it is a form of child abuse.
“Child pornography is illegal, immoral, and they who are caught with it should be jailed with a mandatory sentence of 15 years,” said Viki Mawaka, who has a young step-daughter. Children do not have a voice, so they cannot defend themselves, which results in their innocence being robbed.”
With electronic or computer transmissions of child pornography, it is a federal offense to intentionally receive child pornography, including the use of computers through e-mail.
On the other end of the spectrum are those who support pornography on the Internet in some form or another. Most of these people are those who have something to gain from the exposure that pornography has received. Also, there are people who support the individual’s right (First Amendment rights) to view pornography and not pornography itself. Those that support the right to view pornography believe that adults should be allowed to view as they choose except when it comes to electronic spam mail. This type of advertisement can pop up onto your computer at anytime.
However, there are a few things that you can do to stop porn spam from sent to your computer. You can register a complaint with the United States Attorney General’s Office. Also, you can complain to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and to the sender’s ISP. The practice of “spamming” can be inappropriate when there are so many children that surf the Internet on a daily basis.
Our lawmakers have taken steps to censor pornography on the Internet by voting into law the Communications Decency Act. This law was passed in 1996 and made it a criminal offense to send indecent material by the use of the Internet onto other computer systems. This law was attached to the Telecommunications Reform Act. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against this law because it violated the right to free speech, which is protected by the First Amendment.
An injunction was filed to suspend the enactment of the law by the US District Court. In 1997, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously in the case of Reno v. ACLU that the Telecommunications Reform Act violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Lawmakers have also limited the access for children to pornography and sexually explicit material that can be found in books, films, and retail outlets. This was done by President Bill Clinton when he signed the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) of 2000. This act mandates that libraries that receive federal technology funds install pornography-blocking software on their computers.
For those who wish to report a violation of child pornography laws, they can report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Cyber Tip Line at 1-800-843-5678 or go to their website
http://www.missingkids.com/cybertip. Although Congress is trying hard to protect the Internet from pornographic material, there are some safeguards that parents can do to protect their children from this material. Parents must develop a trusting relationship with their children. This should be done at an early age so that the relationship can have the time to grow. The lines of communication between parent and child should be open. A parent must make sure that their children know that they can talk to them at anytime.
Parents should keep their computers in a high traffic area in your homes. This should be done so that you can monitor what sites your child is visiting. Parents should start to use the “parent controls” that are usually provided by your ISP and also the blocking software that can be used to block any website that you as the parent deem inappropriate.
These tips can help protect children from the elicit material that is contained on the Internet.
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