The Boston Public Library system has begun adding special content filters that restrict access to websites that may contain adult content, in response to the June 23 Supreme Court ruling that upheld a federal law passed in 2000, forcing libraries to add the filters if they want to qualify for federal grant money.
Many organizations have opposed the Children’s Internet Protection Act on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, including the American Library Association. The organization appealed the law in court, claiming it actually does not actually protect children.
‘Filters provide a false sense of security, suggesting children are protected when they are not,’ an ALA release reported. ‘The ALA believes strongly that CIPA is unconstitutional.’
Libraries that choose not to install proper filtering software are denied access to the E-Rate program, a federal program that provides discounts on internet technology, as punishment.
‘Compliance with the CIPA is mandatory with the E-Rate program,’ said Catherine Zannino, a spokeswoman for the Boston Public Library. ‘Boston receives a lot from the program, but most suburbs [outside of Boston] don’t receive as much.’
The E-Rate program works on a formula granting funds to areas based on the local school district’s participation in the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. But E-Rate funds will not cover the cost of the newly required software.
‘The library budget has to address the filtering software,’ Zannino said. ‘It absorbs the cost.’
The filtering software is expected to cost a significant amount of money, but the Boston Public Library does not have an estimate of what that figure is at this point. The project is expected to be completed by summer.
In many suburbs surrounding Boston, the cost of the filtering software is higher than the funding libraries receive from the E-Rate program, causing budget problems.
Some opponents of the law fear the filters will block access to research sites. The software works by blocking all websites containing questionable words that could be included in sites with adult content, whether the sites actually have adult content or not. Boston libraries have been taking actions to make sure this problem does not escalate.
‘Currently, our filtering only blocks images,’ Zannino said.
The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the law on behalf of the public libraries, claiming it violates the First Amendment’s provision for free speech, but lost in the June verdict.
But the ACLU was pleased with one revision to the law, which allows librarians to disable the software at the request of an adult. CIPA defines ‘adult’ as anyone 17 years old or older. Adults do not need to explain why they want access to a particular site.
Many fear the law will be expanded to mandate filters in public schools. Though no legal action has been taken yet, CIPA’s supporters feel there is a possibility to expand it in the future.
Boston University is not held to federal laws with regard to internet filtering because it is a private institution. Though filters can be put on websites through the campus network, BU spokesman Colin Riley said the university is not planning to install them.
‘We are a private institution, so we are removed from any ruling on a public school,’ Riley said. ‘There is no plan to institute filters of this sort on any of our systems.’
While BU does not currently filter adult content, the university does encourage proper internet usage.
‘We don’t monitor that, but we do encourage good judgment,’ Riley said. ‘But you probably wouldn’t want to be sitting next to someone in a library or computer room who was looking at graphic sites.’
