In a trial set to begin on 25th March 2002, the Children's Internet
Protection Act, a federal law that forces US libraries to censor
internet access will be challenged as unconstitutional by the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
"The government is choking off the free flow of information on
the internet to the library patrons who need it the most," said Ann
Beeson, a member of the ACLU legal team that will be arguing the
case in US District Court in Philadelphia.
The ACLU's clients include public libraries across the country;
a 15-year-old girl and her aunt, both of Philadelphia, who do not
have internet access at home; two candidates for Congress whose web
sites were blocked; Planetout.com, a web site for gay lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered persons; and the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America, whose web site provides reproductive
healthcare information.
CIPA requires libraries that participate in certain federal
programs to install "technology protection measures" on all of
their internet access terminals. The law defines such measures as
"a specific technology that blocks or filters Internet access" such
as the commercially available blocking programs Smartfilter, Bess,
CyberPatrol, and WebSense.
The ACLU argues that CIPA violates the First Amendment because
it prevents citizens from communicating and accessing
constitutionally protected speech, imposes a prior restraint on
speech, is not narrowly tailored to limit speech in the least
restrictive way possible, and violates the right to communicate
anonymously because it requires adults to prove a "bona fide
research purpose" before they may access protected speech at public
libraries. It also argues that web site blocking is erratic and
ineffective.
