US senators propose adult web site labels

Stephen Withers
Friday, 13 April 2007 10:22

Your IT - Home IT

A pair of US senators have proposed legislation requiring the labelling of web pages considered "harmful to minors" - despite the fact that a similar law passed a decade ago was knocked back by the Supreme Court.

There are two main problems with this proposal. Firstly, there is the broad issue of freedom of speech - something Americans and their judiciary take very seriously.

Secondly, there is the practical problem of requiring all web sites to review all their content, "a task that would be extremely burdensome" according to a US District Court that heard a challenge to the 1996 Communications Decency Act. That court's decision was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court.

So even if the new Cyber Safety for Kids Act makes it into law, it seems unlikely that it would survive a legal challenge.

Such labelling wouldn't be much use unless web browsers actually supported it. While the major browsers would very likely implement the feature if the law was passed, it would be most surprising if we didn't quickly see an unofficial Firefox build that ignores the label. Combine that with the modifications that allow Firefox to run from a USB drive, and the attempt to provide parents and teachers with peace of mind has failed.

Another problematic part of the proposed act requires web site operators intending to offer content "harmful to minors" to inform ICANN of the fact when registering the domain. ICANN has shown a distinct reluctance to get involved with content classification.

In any case, the law would only apply to organisations located in the US, leaving adult sites in other countries unaffected.

This appears to be a case of politicians feeling they must be seen to be doing something, even if their proposals are unconstitutional or ineffective. Co-sponsor Mark Pryor said "if we sit back and do nothing to protect kids on the Internet, the problem will only escalate," but that doesn't mean that these proposals will actually do anything about the problem.