Warnings on Sexually Explicit Web Sites?

Justice Department backs online sex label legislation to protect kids

By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2006

Web sites containing sexually explicit material could be required to post warning labels if a proposed bill by the Justice Department is passed by Congress.

The bill, “Child Pornography and Obscenity Prevention Amendments of 2006,” was delivered to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) on April 20, the same day Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urged Congress to pass the bill during a speech to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The bill is currently being reviewed by the Judiciary committee, which will decide if it will be sent to Congress.

Hastert has made limiting access to Web-based smut for minors a priority by supporting bills that protect kids from online predators and prevents schools from hiring pedophiles.

Web labeling could make it easier for online filters to locate and block pornographic Web sites. Language in the proposed bill calls for tougher sanctions against those caught trying to circumvent filters by embedding words such as “Barbie” or “Disney,” or any “innocuous term” in their site, and fines, along with prison terms of up to four years, could be imposed, according to the bill.

The idea of a Web-based rating system, which was bandied about during the Clinton Administration, is not new, and critics have suggested that the idea runs against the First Amendment.

Proponents of the new bill, however, have been quick to point out that Web labels are not the same as ratings and that the Justice Department has not suggested something akin to movie ratings. Instead, Web pages with sexually explicit material would contain a warning label.