Your Money or Your Speech: The Children's Internet Protection Act and the Congressional Assault on the First Amendment in Public Libraries

AbstractDrawing on and expanding previous graduate course research, this paper investigated and analyzed public libraries’ policies regarding patron use of legal, visual Internet pornography on public computers. Pornographic imagery that falls within legal boundaries is protected by the First Amendment. Incidents of, and library responses to, pornography viewing are not a new issue and have caused turmoil across the field of library and information science. In an attempt to understand the problem, the research question asks: how do public libraries respond to patrons viewing legal Internet pornography, while upholding First Amendment rights as well as the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and other legal requirements? Libraries tread a fine line to protect First Amendment rights, respect community laws, and uphold CIPA. Research indicated that responding to Internet pornography use in public libraries is heavily dependent on individual, community and library values. Policies are more likely to prohibit patrons from accessing Internet pornography, and most libraries have at least some Internet filtering software restricting what content may be accessed on public use computers. However, evidence also suggests that regardless of policy or filters, library staff will at some point encounter a patron accessing Internet pornography.

Download Full-text

The First Amendment Right to Receive Online Information in Public Libraries

Communication Law and Policy ◽

10.1080/10811680.2013.746139 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 63-89 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Barbara H. Smith

Keyword(s):

First Amendment ◽

Public Libraries ◽

Online Information ◽

To Receive

Download Full-text

One Law with Two Outcomes: Comparing the Implementation of CIPA in Public Libraries and Schools

Information Technology and Libraries ◽

10.6017/ital.v28i1.3168 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Paul T. Jaeger ◽

Zheng Yan

Keyword(s):

Education Research ◽

Public Schools ◽

Public Libraries ◽

Federal Funding ◽

Internet Access ◽

Social Institutions ◽

Policy Context ◽

Current State ◽

Research Questions ◽

Children’S Internet Protection Act

<span>Though the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) established requirements for both public libraries and public schools to adopt filters on all of their computers when they receive certain federal funding, it has not attracted a great amount of research into the effects on libraries and schools and the users of these social institutions. This paper explores the implications of CIPA in terms of its effects on public libraries and public schools, individually and in tandem. Drawing from both library and education research, the paper examines the legal background and basis of CIPA, the current state of Internet access and levels of filtering in public libraries and public schools, the perceived value of CIPA, the perceived consequences of CIPA, the differences in levels of implementation of CIPA in public libraries and public schools, and the reasons for those dramatic differences. After an analysis of these issues within the greater policy context, the paper suggests research questions to help provide more data about the challenges and questions revealed in this analysis.</span>

Download Full-text