Republican presidential candidate John McCain has called once again for an end to federal funding to libraries and schools that offer unfiltered Internet access to children.
The Arizona senator repeated his demand at a town meeting at the Greenville (S.C.) Public Library January 21, the Associated Press reported. Following a visit to the area in December, McCain had attacked the library for not limiting children’s online access after he was told that the nine public computers in the reference room are routinely used by adults to view sexually explicit material.
“That this scourge can exist in this beautiful, religiously grounded, family-friendly town points out the enormity of the crisis,” said McCain. “If you walk into any library and ask for a Hustler magazine the library will tell you it’s not available because it’s inappropriate. Yet a child can log on to the library computer and surf the Web for some of the most degrading and shocking pornography available.” The AP said that McCain disagreed with the American Library Association’s assertion that unlimited Internet access was free speech.
Posted January 31, 2000.