Senate Hearing Focuses on Internet Pornography

Chair Ted Stevens (R-AK), in his opening remarks, stated, “We are finding that the Internet is increasingly a place where Americans turn to get information, do research, and exchange ideas. And increasingly, our children are looking to the Internet for information…But even more so than TV and cable, the Internet contains material inappropriate for children. We must determine what we can do to protect children as they pursue the use of computers and the Internet for their education.” He added, “We will work within the confines of the First Amendment, but we must do what we can to shield children from inappropriate and pornographic content, no matter where it comes from.”

Citing disturbing statistics, Ranking Member Daniel Inouye (D-HI) stated, “Despite efforts to protect children from explicit content, an estimated 90 percent of kids between the ages of eight and sixteen have viewed pornography online.” Additionally, “the number of child pornography web sites is estimated to be 100,000 today, and increasing.” He urged the committee “to re-evaluate the tools and technologies available to parents in the marketplace, and to ensure that law enforcement has what it needs to bring to justice those who prey on children.”

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), a leading advocate for Internet safety, testified that “unfortunately, despite filtering and blocking technologies, children are accessing more and more sexually explicit material at home on their family computer… [and] with the spread of wireless handheld devices, the Internet can also bring inappropriate materials to places like the school bus or the mall, where parents can’t always be present to provide the necessary level of supervision.” She added, “It is this aspect of the Internet that has eroded the ability of parents to control what their children are exposed to online. We should help parents and provide them with tools to protect their children from unsuitable material that’s currently readily accessible on the Internet.” She urged the committee to consider the Internet Safety and Child Protection Act (S. 1507), which would require age verification and shift the costs of protecting children online from the taxpayer to the producers of online pornography.

The committee heard from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about their efforts to enforce child pornography and obscenity laws. Laura Parsky, deputy assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division of the DOJ, explained that “child pornography is distributed over the Internet in a variety of ways, including: online groups or communities, file servers, Internet Relay Chat, e-mail, peer-to-peer networks, and websites.” She stated that the DOJ has created a High Tech Investigative Unit comprised of computer forensic experts to assist prosecutors in such complex child pornography cases. To date there have been “191 domestic and approximately 767 foreign arrests,” said Ms. Parsky. The DOJ has teamed up with the FBI’s Innocent Images national initiative to target child pornography and child enticement, and through the FBI’s Endangered Child Alert Program, “the Department of Justice is also working to identify and rescue victims depicted in images of child pornography,” she said. The DOJ also has established the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, which focuses exclusively on obscenity prosecution and works closely with the FBI.

James H. Burrus, Jr., deputy assistant director in the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI, testified that by teaming up with other law enforcement agencies, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the public, the FBI’s 32 Innocent Images task forces around the country “have arrested thousands of predators who would use the Internet to entice children into exploitive sexual situations.” He also commented on the success of the FBI’s adult obscenity squad, which works closely with the DOJ’s Obscenity Prosecution Task Force to initially determine if allegations meet the legal definition of obscenity prior to conducting investigations. The FBI is “taking an aggressive course of action” to curb the production and distribution of obscene materials and child pornography, he said.

Speaking to the effects of pornography on adults and children, Professor of Communication and Psychology in the Department of Communication at Virginia Tech James B. Weaver, III testified that “watching pornography negatively impacts our most basic attitudes, beliefs, and values about sex, intimacy, and family.” Mr. Weaver explained that social science research suggests frequent consumption of pornography leads to 1) sexual callousness and trivializes the criminality of sexual assault and abuse targeted at both adults and children, 2) spawns doubts about the value of marriage as an essential social institution, and 3) increases assessments of promiscuity. He added, “Distorted messages of unrestrained human sexual promiscuity could be a potent catalyst for abusive behaviors such as domestic violence and rape.”

Paul J. Cambria, Jr., Esq., general counsel to the Adult Freedom Foundation, expressed the adult entertainment industry’s desire to work with the government, parents, and other groups in employing solutions that will protect children while also protecting the First Amendment rights of the producers of adult entertainment. “The industry does not employ child performers, and does not condone access by minors to materials created for the entertainment of adults,” he said. Noting that most purveyors of child pornography are overseas, Mr. Cambria argued, “It is unjust to punish American webmasters, who are attempting to run ethical and legal businesses, with over-regulation in response to problems caused by those who are beyond the reach of United States law.”

Focusing his testimony on the role parents play, Tim Lordan, executive director of The Internet Education Foundation, stated, “There is no substitute for old-fashioned parenting when it comes to keeping children safe online and away from pornography. However, responsible parents can employ the assistance of technology tools such as content filters with remarkable efficiency. Content filtering and other parental empowerment tools are supplements, not substitutes, for parenting in the online age. As with any other approach to ensuring proper child development, active participation by parents in a child’s online activities is critical.”

Tatiana S. Platt, chief trust officer and senior vice president of Integrity Assurance at AOL agreed, offering parenting tips for ensuring a safe online experience for children, including:

• Keeping the family computer in a central location and not behind closed doors in a child’s room;
• Finding out if your child has a profile on any of the common social networking sites and either removing or reviewing that profile for inappropriate content;
• Checking Google and other major search engines for your child’s name, address, phone number and school name to determine if any personally identifiable information has been placed online that could enable a predator to find them; and
• Reviewing your child’s e-mail address book and IM Buddy List to be sure you know who all of your child’s online and offline friends are.