National Study Planned on "Protecting Kids from Pornography"

Staff -- Library Journal, 2/21/2000

The National Academy of Sciences is about to begin a two-year study on "Tools and Strategies for Protecting Kids from Pornography and Their Applicability to Other Inappropriate Internet Content." The project seeks participation from a range of experts, including librarians, to be nominated for committees by March 10. The project description notes three basic problems: characterization of the material that minors should not be allowed to view; the imperfections of technical approaches to identifying pornography; and the difficulty of differentiating minors from adults in cyberspace. No technology can be a solution "in the absence of an appropriate social, cultural, educational, and policy context," including developmental considerations and different degress of access (e.g., limits at school but unrestricted access elsewhere). The study "will focus on articulating the various technical, social, and economic risks and benefits of different tools and strategies for protecting children from pornography on the Internet."