In Protest, Illinois Libraries Turn Off Internet or Filter Heavily

-- Library Journal, 5/16/2007

Library Internet service in several Illinois libraries went dark May 14, in protest against the passage in the Illinois House of Representatives of a demanding library Internet filter bill. The Illinois Library Association (ILA) urged librarians to "communicate and/or demonstrate the negative effects of this legislation;" while some turned off the Net, others installed filters at draconian levels or simply handed out literature explaining the potential effect of    House Bill 1727, the Internet Screening in Public Libraries Act.

If HB 1727 becomes law, public libraries would be forced to filter all public computers and to provide a companion over the age of 21 for any minor requiring unfiltered computer use, such as for homework research. The language tracks that of the federal Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), requiring the blocking of obscenity, child pornography, and, for minors, "harmful to minors" material—though no filter actually meets those precise standards. Unlike with CIPA, which has been interpreted, according to the American Library Association, as allowing the disabling of a filter upon the request of an adult, the Illinois bill would require the user to be pursuing "legitimate research or some other lawful purpose" to get the filter turned off.

Illinois librarians, on the "Day of Unity" online forum, described their experiences. Some used test filters and turned them up all the way—a dramatic response, given that the law would not require all filter settings to be enabled. Ruth Faklis of the Prairie Trails Public Library District, Burbank, noted that her library now allows parents to decide if their children may gain unfiltered access, but the law would take that decision away. Mike Jackiw, a longtime computer technician at libraries, observed that filters don't block pornographic emails or image searches, and that the term "obscene" remains subjective. However, Denise Varenhorst, president of Family Friendly Libraries, criticized libraries for denying service to library users "simply because of the librarians' political views."

Given that libraries would be required to attest to compliance in writing or lose state per capita aid and grant funds, ILA warned the libraries might have to remove public computers because of potential "liability incurred by attesting to compliance when we know that filters do not work in all instances." The bill is an unfunded mandate, which means that libraries would have to purchase their own filtering software. ILA has argued that the issue is one of local contral and that filters are expensive, inflexible, and don't work as advertised. The bill is pending in the Illinois Senate and would have to be approved before the legislative session concludes at the end of May.