Are there laws to prevent the Internet from carrying materials that are obscene or harmful to minors?
A. Several laws have been proposed and even enacted, only to be struck down by the courts. In 1996, Congress passed the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to prohibit anyone from making available on the Internet materials that are obscene or inappropriate for persons under age 18. However, in 1997 the CDA was held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because “in order to deny minors access to potentially harmful speech, the CDA effectively suppresses a large amount of speech that adults have a constitutional right to receive and to address to one another.” Reno v. ACLU. Justice Stevens, who wrote the opinion, noted the unique characteristics of the Internet: [A]ny person with a phone line can become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox. Through the use of Web pages, mail exploders, and news groups, the same individual can become a pamphleteer. He added that finding objectionable content on the Internet is less likely to happen without warning o
A. Several laws have been proposed and even enacted, only to be struck down by the courts. In 1996, Congress passed the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to prohibit anyone from making available on the Internet materials that are obscene or inappropriate for persons under age 18. However, in 1997 the CDA was held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because “in order to deny minors access to potentially harmful speech, the CDA effectively suppresses a large amount of speech that adults have a constitutional right to receive and to address to one another.” Reno v. ACLU .
Related Questions
- One of the requirements refers to access by minors to inappropriate matter and another refers to access to materials harmful to minors. Whats the difference?
- Are there laws to prevent the Internet from carrying materials that are obscene or harmful to minors?
- How do copyright laws affect use of software and/or Internet materials?
