SF: No Filters

Despite a federal mandate, San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) will not install filters on its public Internet terminals. By refusing to filter, San Francisco is prepared to give up federal e-rate funding, which amounts to $20,000 of SFPL's $50-million budget. The decision came last month when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban filters in its libraries, making it the first city to do so. Still, the supervisors decided to give the library board the option of filtering terminals used by children under age 13. The library board so far has declined to do so.