Son of DOPA? Social Networking Bill in Illinois May Be Replicated Elsewhere

-- Library Journal, 2/20/2007

While the Democrat-controlled Illinois General Assembly may not be too receptive to new social networking legislation proposed by freshman Republican Senator Matt Murphy, the bill may be the first in several state attempts to achieve the goals of the federal Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), which passed the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate. The Social Networking Website Prohibition Act would require public libraries to prohibit access to social networking web sites, including MySpace and many less controversial, on all publicly accessible computers, including those used by adults, and also would prohibit access by students in schools.

“I’m thinking this is going to be very similar to filtering legislation,” Robert Doyle, executive director of the Illinois Library Association (ILA), told LJ. “We’ve won 11 times, but there has been no reluctance to reintroduce bills.” Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told LJ that, among members of the Media Coalitio, an anticensorship group, “the consensus is that social networking legislation is going to be the next thing down the pike.” In Georgia, she noted, a bill would make it illegal for the owner/operator of a social networking web site to allow a minor to set up a profile without permission of minor’s parent or guardian and without providing parent or guardian access to that web page. “These kids aren’t going to give up their MySpace,” Krug said. “They’ll go offshore” to sites maintained outside U.S. jurisdiction. A similar bill has been filed in North Carolina.

“I think that libraries are an integral part of the whole debate about social networking, because it’s such an important communication medium that young people are using,” Krug added. “If young people are using it, it’s incumbent on us to help them use it responsibly and safely.” Doyle added, “We’ve got to accelerate our efforts to provide Internet safety instruction for parents and kids and teenagers. If people are well informed about social networking sites, and they used basic Internet safety tips, the fear that’s out there will decline.” ILA has circulated an article with tips on online safety and the organization’s talking points.