Restrictions on Minors' Access to Material on the Internet

Publication Date: July 1998

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Media, telecommunications, and information; Population and demographics

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Abstract:

On March 12, 1998, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation favorably reported two bills that would restrict material on the Internet deemed harmful to minors. S. 1482 (S.Rept. 105-225) would require anyone "in interstate or foreign commerce or through the World Wide Web," who "is engaged in the business of the commercial distribution of material that is harmful to minors," to "restrict access to such material by persons under 17 years of age." S. 1619 (S. Rept. 105-226) would require elementary schools, secondary schools, and libraries that accept "universal services" under 47 U.S.C. section 254(h)(1)(B) to install on their "computers with Internet access a system to filter or block matter deemed to be inappropriate for minors." This report summarizes and discusses interpretational issues in these two bills and addresses First Amendment issues that they raise.