Censorship absolutism: An unraised question??

[Albert Lunde]

What may be problematic about these questions of uncontrolled/unlimited
Internet access, is that it could potentially drag into the debate just
about any issue about which there is a major lack of social consensus, and
make libraries a political football.

In particular, "pornography" is a proxy for a whole list of issues related
to sexuality.  Abortion and homosexuality come to mind as examples where
the "marketplace of ideas" is a bit heated. (I think the CDA may have been
used by now as a fund-raising issue by both liberal and conservative
groups.)

We can sterr people towards particular Internet services, but ultimately
the net is a transport that can take many forms and be used for nearly
every purpose: moral, immortal, academic, recreational, etc.

Colleges have been dealing with issues about Internet access in labs for a
few years, but we are able to assume a different age range, than general
public libraries.

(Some sites have tried to deal with the issue of users downloading material
potentially offensive to others by arranging kiosks so it it hard for
others to see the screen and cutting off sound or providing headphones, but
this has its own disadvantages.)



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    Albert Lunde                      Albert-Lunde at nwu.edu