News

After Court Restores Research Funding, Trump Still Has Paths to Target Harvard

News

‘Honestly, I’m Fine with It’: Eliot Residents Settle In to the Inn as Renovations Begin

News

He Represented Paul Toner. Now, He’s the Fundraising Frontrunner in Cambridge’s Municipal Elections.

News

Harvard College Laundry Prices Increase by 25 Cents

News

DOJ Sues Boston and Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 Over Sanctuary City Policy

Protect Nation's Youth

DISSENT

By Michael E. Ginsberg

Legislation to protect the youth of America from indecent material is nothing new. While the medium in this case, the Internet, is different, the spirit of such regulation, and its enforcement, is well-rooted in this country. Pictures of naked people do not constitute the currency of the "marketplace of ideas" and are therefore not worthy of First Amendment protection. Any attack on patently indecent material is no infringement of anyone's civil liberties.

Granted, the measure enacted by the Congress may also be difficult to enforce. But members of the government are elected to promote the priorities of their constituents, be they economic or, as in this case, social.

Complete reliance on parental monitoring of a child's computer use at home or elsewhere cannot keep smut from our children. As such, government, in its role of representing the social interests of its citizens, must step in.

Allowing local governments to make such laws would be a more appropriate solution, as a local government represents fewer people and as such is a better barometer of its citizens' social values.

But the underlying premise is the same: government does have a role in protecting children from indecent material.

Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.

Tags