Posted May 12, 2006.

House Bill Would Force Libraries to Block Social Websites

Legislation introduced May 9 by Reps. Michael G. Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) seeks to prohibit minors from accessing chat rooms and such popular social-networking websites as MySpace and Facebook on school or library computers. The Deleting Online Predators Act, H.R. 5319, would require schools and libraries to block access to a broad selection of web content including commercial websites that “allow users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves” or offer “communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, e-mail, or instant messenger.”

“Sites like MySpace and Facebook have opened the door to a new online community of social networks between friends, students, and colleagues,” Fitzpatrick stated on his website. “However, this new technology has become a feeding ground for child predators that use these sites as just another way to do our children harm.”

The May 11 Cnet online news service reported that the broad category of social-networking sites includes not only MySpace and Facebook but also LiveJournal, Friendster, Orkut, Blogger, AOL and Yahoo instant-messaging features, and possibly Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which allows in-game chat.

Like the Children’s Internet Protection Act, the legislation would affect schools and libraries that receive e-rate funding for internet access or connections.

The bill would also require the Federal Communications Commission to publish an annual list of “commercial social networking websites and chat rooms that have been shown to allow sexual predators easy access to personal information of, and contact with, children.”

Posted May 12, 2006.