Public library officials would be held liable under criminal law if children see pornography online, under a bill proposed by a state senator here.
The inspiration was the Greenville Public Library's refusal to install Internet filtering software on computers, despite Republican presidential candidate John McCain's recent outburst against what he called allowing anyone - even sex offenders - to see porn in the library computers where children might see it.
State Senator Mike Fair introduced the bill, which joins the nationwide controversy about filtering software and would remove legal protections South Carolina libraries have known since 1991, when a state law barred minors from access to porn. Parents who see porn on the Net in the library can file reports with local prosecutors who then decide whether a grand jury should see the case. The law makes exemptions for libraries, schools, and churches as long as they perform their regular functions.
Those wanting to shield children from pornography and those concerned about free speech impediments are at loggerheads on the filtering issue, but Fair tells APBNews this isn't even a First Amendment issue. He says there are other bills in the state legislature to cut off funding to public libraries that don't provide filters.
"Since too many public libraries have been unwilling to respond to legitimate concerns of the communities they serve," he tells APBNews, "libraries funded by those communities should not enjoy special protection under our law."
But that doesn't fly with the American Library Association's director for intellectual freedom, Judith Krug. "It is quite apparent from this kind of activity that the legislator is not knowledgeable or comfortable with the Internet," she tells APBNews. "I understand his concern, but I don't think it's founded in reality. ... To place criminal liability on those whose role is not to serve as the Internet police, but to provide information, is inappropriate."
She says a library's job is bringing people together with information and resources they can use and those who violate library policies can lose their library privileges. "Children are provided with guidance and appropriate information when they need it. We try to ensure that young people access information they find useful and helpful," she tells APBNews.
The Greenville Public Library has approved a policy requiring a parent accompany a child under 12 to use the Internet and a letter from a parent for teenagers 12 through 17 to go online, APBNews says.
Library spokeswoman Pat Scales tells APBNews the library is "not in the business of censoring people. I understand that libraries have major problems with what children might see. There are as many policies to deal with this as there are libraries. People don't understand the medium."
McCain and other Washington lawmakers have called for withholding public funds to schools and libraries which do not install Net filtering software.
