Internet Censorship: Congress Moves Toward Final Decision
A House/Senate conference committee will shortly meet to sort out conflicting proposals passed by the two houses of Congress aimed at restricting online access to "obscene" or "indecent" material and other matter deemed objectionable. AIDS activists and service organizations are concerned that some of the proposals under consideration, such as Senator James Exon's "Communications Decency Act" (CDA) passed by the Senate last summer, could greatly interfere with both online distribution of HIV/AIDS information and certain AIDS activism (see "Exon Amendment: Threat to AIDS Prevention and Activism?," AIDS TREATMENT NEWS issue #227, July 21, 1995).
Essentially, the choice the conference committee faces boils down to two options: 1) A broad effort to censor the Internet and online services by barring any material not suitable for small children, or 2) Giving parents the means to bar access to material they find offensive while preserving freedom of expression for adults. Recently, some religious right organizations have begun urging the committee to adopt even more restrictive language than the original Exon proposal.
As we go to press it remains unclear exactly when the committee will take up this issue, but it is expected to be quite soon. A broad coalition of organizations is encouraging everyone concerned with freedom of speech to contact the committee members and encourage them to oppose all proposals that would censor online communication. Opposition to Internet censorship has come not only from civil liberties, arts, and libertarian organizations, and from the computer industry, but also from a number of conservatives, including Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (Republican, Georgia). Many are concerned that online communication will never reach its potential if a lesser standard of free speech applies than for printed publications -- if, for example, literary classics readily available in public libraries could be a felony if placed online.
If you live in any of the states below, your call to your Senator -- or to your Representative, if you live in the Representative's district -- is especially important. The Washington D.C. office of any Senator or Representative can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard, 202/224-3121; just ask for the Senator or Representative. The following Senators and Representatives are on the Conference Committee which will decide the issue; we have highlighted the state abbreviations so you can scan quickly for your state. Ask your Senator or Representative to oppose government censorship of the Internet, and leave control of children's access in the hands of parents, where it belongs. Also, call others who live in the following states and ask them to call. (The information below is from November 20 and November 2 action alerts of the Voters Telecommunication Watch; for more information, see below.)
Senators on the Conference Committee which will decide on the Exon Amendment and Internet censorship:
NAME, ADDRESS, AND PARTY PHONE
Arkansas Rep. B. Lambert-Lincoln (D-AR) 501-972-4600
Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) 907-456-0261
Arizona Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) 602-952-2410
California Rep. Carlos Moorhead (R-CA) 818-247-8445 Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) 805-485-2300 Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) 818-891-0543 Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) 415-323-2984
Colorado Rep. Pat Schroeder (D-CO) 303-866-1230 Rep. Daniel Schaefer (R-CO) 303-762-8890
Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) 904-351-8011
Georgia Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) 404-429-1776 Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA) 404-565-6398
Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) 808-541-2542
Illiois Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) 312-224-6500 Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) 708-406-1114 Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) 708-832-5950 Rep. Michael Flanagan (R-IL) 312-276-6000
Indiana Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) 219-583-9819
Kansas Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) 913-295-2745
Kentucky Sen. Wendell Ford (D-KY) 502-685-5158
Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) 617-396-2900
Michigan Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) 313-846-1276 Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) 313-961-5670
Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) 601-762-5400
Montana Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) 406-252-0550
Nebraska Sen. Jim Exon (D-NE) 402-437-5591
New York Rep. Bill Paxon (R-NY) 716-634-2324 Rep. Daniel Frisa (R-NY) 516-872-9550
Ohio Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH) 419-423-3210 Rep. Martin Hoke (R-OH) 216-356-2010 Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) 216-934-5100
South Carolina Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC) 803-727-4525
South Dakota Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD) 605-226-7471
Tennessee Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) 615-896-1986
Texas Rep. Jack Fields (R-TX) 713-540-8000 Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) 817-543-1000 Rep. John Bryant (D-TX) 901-382-5811 Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) 713-655-0050
Virginia Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-VA) 804-771-2809 Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) 703-628-1145 Rep. Robert Scott (D-VA) 804-380-1000 Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) 703-857-2672
Washington Rep. Rick White (R-VA) 206-640-0233 Sen. Slade Gordon (R-VA) 206-553-0350
Wisconsin Rep. Scott Klug (R-WI) 608-257-9200
West Virginia
Sen. J.D. Rockefeller (D-WV) 303-347-5372
The Voters Telecommunication Watch asked voters in other states to call Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA), and Senate Robert Dole (R-KS).
For more information, or to learn how else you can help, the VTW action alerts include the following email addresses:
World Wide Web Sites:
(website no longer available)
http://www.eff.org/
Email:
vtw@vtw.org (put "send alert" in the subject line for the latest alert, or "send cdafaq" for the CDA FAQ)
cda-info@cdt.org (General CDA information)
cda-stat@cdt.org (Current status of the CDA)
[Note: Excellent analysis of problems with the telecommunications bill as a whole -- not only the censorship provisions -- can be found at the World Wide Web site of the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, www.cpsr dot net
