The University’s annual President Lecture Series brought in Roger Newman, its second speaker, yesterday to talk about Internet censorship.
Newman started by discussing the use of censorship in ancient times and how it is nothing new to the technology today.
Censorship started with the banning of certain fiction, but now most Americans treat sex with suspicion, Newman said.
“Sex is always on the hunt looking for a new host, technology,” Newman said about how Americans seem to need to use of censorship to be decent.
Newman said that the Internet is part of adults’ constitutional rights, and it is not possible to tell online if a person is an adult or a minor. Newman then went on to discuss how there are over 100 different types of filtering programs, one example is Netnanny.
These filters are stated to be “family safe,” but Newman said, “filters are like machetes trying to do the job of a scalpel.”
Some of these filters block out only certain “unacceptable” words while others will block out whole sites that contain an obscenity, as defined by that program’s creators. One filter eliminated the CNN homepage because one story was about a naked statue that was in a museum.
High schools using certain filters, blocked the Titanic site because of the first three letters in the name.
“A filter program that restricts sites is like pulling books off of shelves,” Newman said.
Certain Internet providers now block out sites without letting the consumer know, this is what is known as silent censorship. This infringes on a person’s constitutional rights, Newman said.
Even the well-known Harry Potter character and stories have been banned, blocked and even burned by thousands of people and filters. What’s next? Newman said that the blocking of Disney for children may be on the list.
“It would be a virtual Ozzie and Harriet,” he said.
But even the 1950’s wasn’t all freedom of censorship. Elvis’ songs were banned from certain radio stations and when he appeared on television, he was only seen from the waist up. His hip dance was unacceptable to the public eye, according to the television station.
“Technology may drive the future, but the steering is up to us,” Newman said about censorship on books, television and the Internet.
There were many laws that have been made about Internet censorship, a few of which were thrown out because they were found unconstitutional. One such law is the one that was passed two years ago stating that all libraries and schools were to block out anything uneducational from the Internet. These filters were meant for children, not adults. The law was taken to court, which in turn said that the school portion was to be kept because teachers are to act as a second parent to students. The library portion was said to be unconstitutional because it is public use.
Newman said that Americans live in a democracy, and free speech is not cheap, but it is the price we have to pay.
“The only acceptable censor in a democracy is the internal one,” he said.
As Newman closed his lecture, he said “The Internet is like a fire that has been lighted, it takes on a life of its own.”
A question was brought to Newman’s attention, What should we do? Newman went on to discuss how anyone can say how they feel about the way Internet censorship can disrupt a person’s First Amendment Rights by writing to Congress members and newspapers.
“If people express themselves, people in office will listen. You have to pressure the government and point out the flaws,” Newman said.
Computer Science student Don Barlow agreed with Newman’s lecture, “When I want to do things that involve art on the Internet, it is a problem when I can’t get access.”
Barlow said that censorship is an important issue when dealing with the Internet. There are certain items on the Internet that people like Barlow may need access to, but with filters on Internet providers, it can be hard to find what is needed, Barlow said.
Barlow went to a similar lecture last year and said would most likely go again.
“It is worth while and an important issue,” he said.
