Net’s Not-So-Secret Little Dirties Don’t Scare the ACLU

Today’s working premise: The American Civil Liberties Union will come to hate the Internet.

Not at all, says ACLU spokeswoman Emily Whitfield by telephone from New York.

“We don’t hate the Internet,” she says, jovially. “We love it, and the thing we love more than anything is free speech.”

Shows you what I know. Although largely Internet ignorant, I began with the notion that its emergence might cause the ACLU some tossing and turning at night because the availability of X-rated material in cyberspace means that millions of youngsters may regularly be exposed to it. No matter how noble the cause of free speech, I presumed those Internet realities would vex the ACLU--even as it opposes laws that limit the dissemination of “indecent” material to Web sites.

A pang of conscience? A touch of regret? At the very least, how about some head-scratching?

Nope, Whitfield says. My premise may vex some people, she says, but not the ACLU.

For starters, she says, the ACLU isn’t challenging obscenity laws already on the books; nor does it oppose prosecuting people who lure children over the Internet for illicit purposes. Second, software is available with which parents can effectively block their children from reaching X-rated material. Third, the so-called anti-porn legislation either passed or pending around the United States dredges up the old arguments about limiting free speech and would, in effect, deprive adults as well as children of explicit material that is constitutionally protected.

Fourth, she says, is the history of such things.

From the advent of the printing press in the 15th century to VCRs in the 20th century, some people have feared the implications, Whitfield says.

“With every new technology that comes along, there are new anxieties,” she says. “Our view always is that free speech is paramount, and when there are other means by which to keep children from seeing things that others see as harmful, the least restrictive means [to free speech] is the way to go.”

I understand that, but not even a bit of hand-wringing?

What seems obviously different in this day and age is the ease of access to things that no adult would want a 10-year-old to see. Sure, a kid might be able to buy a girlie magazine today in a liquor store, but it’s illegal, and most store owners wouldn’t make the sale. A 12-year-old can’t buy an X-rated video. A kid could sneak a copy of the novel “Fanny Hill” into his room, but his parents might find it.

Internet access, however, doesn’t require a shop owner or $5 burning a hole in a kid’s pocket or deception. It only requires a computer and some free time without parental supervision. Both of those abound in Orange County.

The Huntington Beach Police Department has been out front in the publicity department about Internet perils for children. In the last five months, five people have been arrested for allegedly distributing obscene material or trying to lure children via the Internet, according to spokesman Lt. Dan Johnson, who says an officer spends 20 hours a week monitoring Web sites.

“I don’t think we’ve done more [than other departments], but we’re the only ones who are publicizing it,” Johnson says. “The reason is that we want parents to know that there’s a dangerous little world out there. We don’t want to regulate or restrict anyone’s access to free speech, but we want parents to know there are dangers inside that little box that they think kids are having fun with.”

Johnson also shares the ACLU view that the Internet is too big to police. While many adults are computer illiterate, “we have kids growing up who know tons more than their parents” about computers, Johnson says. “No doubt parents think their kids are playing games on it or chatting back and forth with little Susie in Salt Lake City. They have no idea there are pedophiles out there, distributors of child pornography out there and explicit adult material that is readily accessible.”

Johnson says the twin responsibilities lie with the online providers and with parents, who must get up to speed with the computer world in which their children live.

The ACLU’s Whitfield probably would agree with that. Trying to crack down on “indecency” on the Web simply won’t work, she says.

“I’ve got tell you, this isn’t called the American Web,” she says. “It’s called the World Wide Web. Forty percent of the material on the Web originates overseas. We can have all the laws we want in this country, but it’s a global medium, and you can’t prevent access.”

To which Johnson adds: “This is also a world that is just getting started. The virtual reality that’s going to develop in the next 10 to 20 years will change the world.”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.