Articles - Education

Middle Georgia Libraries
Filter Out the Porn

By Jennifer Robinson

Before June 23, you, as parents, had no guarantee that your children would not be able to view, or 
even catch a quick glance of, inappropriate material on a public library’s computer. Individuals using the Internet at public libraries could pull up pornographic images on the screen and either show them to children, leave them for children and others to see later, or leave them on paper in a library printer—and all this they could have done legally.

Despite the pleas of the American Library Association (ALA) and other advocates of "free speech," however, the Supreme Court declared in a 6-3 decision on June 23 that just as pornography and other inappropriate material are not allowed on libraries’ shelves, neither should Congress be stopped from prohibiting such materials’ availability on library computers at the government’s-and taxpayers’-expense. The decision enabled the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), passed by Congress in 2000, to finally take effect. Designed specifically to protect children, the act requires public libraries to install Internet filtering software on their Internet computers as a condition for receiving federal funds. 

While members of the ALA-the loser in the United States vs. American Library Association case-expressed "disappointment" at the case’s closure, many librarians, especially in the Middle Georgia area, applauded the court’s decision and ignored the ALA’s cries that the CIPA violates First Amendment rights.

"They’re confusing public places with peep shows," said Charles Schmidt, director of the Middle Georgia Regional Library system. Schmidt expressed strong agreement with the Supreme Court’s decision, emphasizing that part of the job of a library is to protect children and the entire community. 

Head of Technology of the Middle Georgia Regional Library system Thomas Jones, who has been working at Washington Memorial Library in downtown Macon for about thirty years, echoed Schmidt’s opinion by also siding heavily with the Supreme Court on the subject of Internet filtering.

"[Pornography-viewing problems] are the unintended consequences of a good idea," Jones said, explaining that having Internet in the libraries has its benefits, but its availability should not mean people can come into a public library and view whatever they want to, in full view of other library patrons, including children. 

At Washington Memorial Library, Schmidt said they have had some problems with people using the computers to view pornography, but their policy has been for a patrolling security guard to force any pornography viewers to leave.

"It’s not rampant, but we’ve had problems," Washington Memorial librarian Gail Moon said.

Because of these incidents, however infrequent, Schmidt said the Middle Georgia Regional Library has been wanting to get Internet filters on their computers for some time, but they were unable to go foward with their plans until they were sure filters would not violate Constitutional freedoms. Less than two weeks after the Supreme Court case was decided, however, Internet filters were already working at the fourteen libraries in the Middle Georgia Regional Library system.

Like the staff at Washington Memorial, librarians in Houston County also tended to agree strongly with the Supreme Court’s ruling. However, unlike the Bibb and Jones County libraries, branches in Perry, Warner Robins, and Centerville have already been using Internet filters for more than two years. According to the staff members there, the filters have been in use because of the character of the community it serves.

"We don’t believe in censorship, but we believe in being smart . . . It’s for the

protection of all our patrons . . . We know our patronage," said Belle Bush, reference librarian of the Nola Brantley Memorial Library in Warner Robins. Bush explained that the library is for educational purposes, and while librarians are not children’s parents, people must remember that libraries are public places, not private homes.

Bush said that before the library got Internet filtering at the beginning of 2001, problems with people coming in to view pornography or other inappropriate material on the Internet were "bad," but since getting the filters two-and-a-half years ago, the problems have diminished considerably. 

Bush explained that children can be simply standing in the book check-out line, and the screens of the computers are in full view of children wandering or looking aimlessly around. One accidental glimpse, and a pornographic or violent image could be imprinted on that child’s mind forever. The filters, therefore, will enable parents to take their children to the library without worrying that the person on a nearby computer is displaying inappropriate material usually found only in an adult bookstore. 

The New Filters

With all this talk about Internet filters, you might be wondering which filter is actually being used in the library you visit, and what exactly will be filtered out.

Like all Georgia public libraries, the Middle Georgia Regional Library and Houston County libraries are all using an 

Internet filter called SmartFilter. The 

filter is installed at the router level, meaning the software is not controlled and maintained from each individual computer but from a single location. SmartFilter is continuously updated by a built-in random search engine, which finds new inappropriate sites and automatically downloads them into the SmartFilter Control List every night. The Control List consists of the URL addresses of the blocked sites, divided into thirty categories. The list is changed constantly through this automatic process, but also through manual insertion or deletion of URL addresses when such changes are deemed appropriate by the controller—in this case, librarians.

The Middle Georgia Regional Library is blocking five of SmartFilter’s thirty web site categories, while Houston County is blocking three. Both libraries are blocking the categories of Sex (includes soft- and hard-core pornography and sex discussions), Chat (Web-based chat groups, including chat rooms, instant messaging, and message boards), and Extreme/Obscene/Violence (includes violent, gory, or horrific material related to sex, bodily functions, obscenity, and perverse activities). The Middle Georgia Regional Library is also blocking the Criminal Skills category (sites that give methods for or promote illegal, criminal activities such as bomb-making, computer hacking, murder, burglary, and rape) and the Drugs category (sites that provide information on the purchase, manufacturing, and use of illegal or recreational drugs like marijuana, cocaine, and LSD). Among the site categories not being filtered out are: Cults/Occult, Hate Speech, Gambling, Nudity (includes only non-pornographic images), and Webmail (email sites).

When anyone on the Internet at a public library goes to a site listed in one of these categories, a blank screen pops up and says, "Forbidden: this page [the page’s URL] is categorized as: [Sex, or other category]." 

At Washington Memorial Library, the library further protects young people by requiring children under sixteen to be accompanied by an adult when they use the Internet computers. Jones and Schmidt both said that even with filters, they do not feel safe letting children use the Internet unless an adult is supervising. At Houston County libraries, children under eighteen have to receive parental permission to use the Internet.

In addition, an "Internet Access" notice posted around the Middle Georgia Regional libraries says that because filtering is not "foolproof," patrons are encouraged to let library staff know, through comment forms, if they encounter sites that they feel should be blocked, or ones that are "incorrectly blocked." Jones and Schmidt both admitted that they will avoid unblocking sites if they can, but they will send in the URL addresses of sites should changes to the Control List become necessary.

The Houston Couny librarians will avoid unblocking any sites even more strictly. According to Bush, the county’s library board has decided not to unfilter sites for patrons at all, even upon their requests. This decision was made based on knowledge of the type of community they serve and with the belief that unblocking sites would defeat the purpose of the filters-to protect others using the library, especially kids.


Will They Work?

In countless incidents across the country, people have questioned, "What if you’re doing research on breast cancer? What if the filters block those sites?" Although those against filtering have insisted that filters are "faulty," Bush said people need not worry that the new filters will truly hinder anyone’s research process. Schmidt, Jones, and Systems Engineer Brian Coker of the Middle Georgia Regional Library all three also dismissed this excuse and echoed Bush, saying that it is simply not true that people will suddenly be unable to get any research material on topics like breast cancer. Furthermore, all librarians indicated that they can always tell the difference between those doing serious research—those whom they would help, should filters become a real hindrance—and those wanting to access sites for their own personal, inappropriate purposes.

"We think it [the filtering system]’s going to work fine," Moon said, discounting the argument that Internet filters don’t work. She added that library personnel are always available to help anyone doing serious research, so if patrons have problems accessing sites, librarians will assist in any way they can.

Although filters are better than no filters, no system will work perfectly. As Josh Finer, president of Finer Technologies, Inc., says, "Search for Brittany Spears on a search engine, just like a child would, and see some of the stuff you get!" No doubt, many questionable sites will go unfiltered, and that is why parents should (and at some libraries are required to) be involved in their children’s Internet usage. Internet filters at public libraries are a step in the right direction, but parents should strongly consider both personally and technologically regulating Internet usage in all other locations and at all other times as well. v