Bill to Ban Social Sites in Schools Moves to Senate, by Barry Levine, is basically a press release which title is self explanitory. The bill, which has already passed through the house, calls for the banning of social networking sights which maintain personal profiles of their users as well as allow direct communication between users (i.e. Myspace, Facebook, Yahoo 360.) The Bill would affect those institutions which gain internet access through a lowered rate plan sponsored by the government. This includes all public schools and nearly two thirds of the public libraries, according to the ADA.
The reasoning behind this bill lies in it's official name, "the Deleting of Online Predators." DOPA was built off of Sen. Michael Fitzpatrick's assertion, that networking Web Sites are prime "hunting grounds" for sexual predators. According to the article, "The FBI has reportedly estimated that 20% of all children in the U.S. using the Internet have been sexually approached online, and that there are as many as 50,000 sexual predators online looking for contacts with children." However these statistics are not properly cited.
Once the bill becomes law, the institutions it affects would have to put a filter in place to restrict access to these social sights. However, the bill is unclear in its definition of social networking sights, therefore the institutions would have to rely on the ruling of the FCC as to what fell under the restrictions of the law and what did not.
An analyst for the Yankee group, Jennifer Simpson, believes that this motion by the government will soon be moot however, due to the recent availability of the internet via mobile and remote devices. "Access will become more pervasive," the article quoted, "with students connected anytime, any place."
This bill could concern more than elementary or high schools however. It is mentioned in the Idaho Technology Initiative Status Report, compiled by Robert Barr and Carolyn Thorsen of Boise State University, (http://csi.boisestate.edu/pdffiles/Idaho%20Technology%20Initiative%20Status%20Report%201994-2002.pdf) that many of Idaho's school districts receive the federal e-rate benefits to improve the amount of technology needed in the classroom. This statement does not exclude or include state funded universities, and though I've looked for information on the subject, I've yet to find a definitive yes or no on federal funding for the use of the internet on state university campuses. If our campuses are state funded, the proposed bill could shut down this branch of digital media for many college students, especially those living on campus. Though small in comparison to the entirety of blog society, entire social networks would perish. This Blog we are using for class discussion could be banned because of this new law and FCC regulations.
Though DOPA was created to help stop criminals, the government is on the edge of restricting freedom of speech. The bill was designed with minors in mind (who apparently don't have common civil rights being that they are minors) but is on the brink of overpowering basic civil liberties.
Frankly this article scares me.