The public can take action, although limited, against those viewing pornography in public libraries, according to a new law. The subject surfaced yet again recently when public uproar erupted over people openly viewing porn in San Francisco libraries. The library's response was to install plastic privacy screens on the computers -- which are reportedly not very private -- so patrons could view porn more discreetly.
Donna Rice Hughes of Enough is Enough says Congress dealt with the problem by passing the Children's Internet Protection Act.
"The way we approached this at the federal level, which also applies at the state level, is that public libraries that are using taxpayer dollars to fund their computers and their Internet access cannot allow those computers to be used to view material that is pornographic, whether the patrons of the library are adult or children," explains Hughes.
"The way we approached this at the federal level, which also applies at the state level, is that public libraries that are using taxpayer dollars to fund their computers and their Internet access cannot allow those computers to be used to view material that is pornographic, whether the patrons of the library are adult or children," explains Hughes.
The only way libraries can avoid the law is to not use tax dollars for that purpose. Hughes points out that some of the adult porn -- and all of the child pornography -- violates federal laws. She adds that putting up the so-called "privacy" screens is only a Band Aid effect.
"If this library or any library is using government funding, they are supposed to filter pornography for all, not just [for] kids," she says. "That's a federal law. So simply putting [up] a protective kind of screen ... may protect other patrons from seeing that material, but it may not be in compliance with the law."
Hughes encourages people to go to her group's website and become familiar with the law as well as aspects of dealing with pornography at libraries.
"If this library or any library is using government funding, they are supposed to filter pornography for all, not just [for] kids," she says. "That's a federal law. So simply putting [up] a protective kind of screen ... may protect other patrons from seeing that material, but it may not be in compliance with the law."
Hughes encourages people to go to her group's website and become familiar with the law as well as aspects of dealing with pornography at libraries.
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