War on Blogs
December 14, 2006
The following is an open letter to John McCain regarding legislation he recently introduced which would force bloggers to censor material posted on their blogs or face criminal penalties.
Dear Senator McCain,
I am disturbed by the language of the Stop the Online Exploitation of Our Children Act of 2006, which you recently introduced in the Senate. Certainly I support protecting children from predators on the Internet; but your bill takes an entirely incorrect approach to the situation. According to your bill, I must watch the comments posted on my blog like a hawk, and if I don’t report illegal videos or photos posted by my readers I would have to pay a fine of up to $300,000… And if a sex offender signs up to post comments on my website I must delete his account… And if one of my readers posts a link to a website associated with a sex offender I must delete the post and his account. I ask why I am being held to a higher standard than Time Warner, my internet service provider, who must comply with the same regulations?
Granted, my blog has relatively small readership, and I might be able to effectively police all of my readers; but what about some of the popular blogs with millions of readers? These blogs offer one of the last remaining channels for open expression and discussion. Blogs increased civic activism and discussion during the 2004 presidential election. Thousands of young people, who wouldn’t have otherwise been interested in politics got involved in the Democratic primary thanks to discussions on political blogs. Civic participation among young people is already at an embarrassingly low level, and your bill would certainly do nothing to remedy that situation. Your bill goes too far and restricts one of the last forms of free speech we Americans have. Your party loves to talk about bringing freedom and liberty to Iraq; so why don’t you live up to your word in the US? For the sake of free expression and open discussion, please reconsider your new bill.
Sincerely,
Rob Pitingolo
Dear Senator McCain,
I am disturbed by the language of the Stop the Online Exploitation of Our Children Act of 2006, which you recently introduced in the Senate. Certainly I support protecting children from predators on the Internet; but your bill takes an entirely incorrect approach to the situation. According to your bill, I must watch the comments posted on my blog like a hawk, and if I don’t report illegal videos or photos posted by my readers I would have to pay a fine of up to $300,000… And if a sex offender signs up to post comments on my website I must delete his account… And if one of my readers posts a link to a website associated with a sex offender I must delete the post and his account. I ask why I am being held to a higher standard than Time Warner, my internet service provider, who must comply with the same regulations?
Granted, my blog has relatively small readership, and I might be able to effectively police all of my readers; but what about some of the popular blogs with millions of readers? These blogs offer one of the last remaining channels for open expression and discussion. Blogs increased civic activism and discussion during the 2004 presidential election. Thousands of young people, who wouldn’t have otherwise been interested in politics got involved in the Democratic primary thanks to discussions on political blogs. Civic participation among young people is already at an embarrassingly low level, and your bill would certainly do nothing to remedy that situation. Your bill goes too far and restricts one of the last forms of free speech we Americans have. Your party loves to talk about bringing freedom and liberty to Iraq; so why don’t you live up to your word in the US? For the sake of free expression and open discussion, please reconsider your new bill.
Sincerely,
Rob Pitingolo
