Published: July 16, 1998
Last Updated: July 23, 1998
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RESTON, Va. — The president of the American Soceity of Newspaper Editors today wrote each U.S. senator of his concern over S 1619, a bill mandating Internet filters in schools and libraries.

Edward Seaton, editor-in-chief of The Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury, wrote:
 

ASNE wishes to express its concerns regarding S 1619, a bill that proposes to tie federal subsidies providing Internet access to public schools and libraries to an agreement on the part of the participating organization to install filtering software.  Such a condition restricts a major use of the Internet by students and library users and poses a serious threat to the future of online newspapers.

We share your desire to have 100 percent Internet access in public schools and libraries  as soon as possible.   No longer will a student doing a report on current events need to rely on encyclopedias, periodical indices, and a limited supply of newspaper archives.  All the information that student needs is available in a medium with which he or she is comfortable — the computer. A major source for information online is newspapers, with the Internet presence of newspapers increasing daily.

Newspapers provide a major source of information for adult library users as well.  A transplanted resident of Anchorage, Alaska, living in Washington can get instant news from his hometown by accessing the Web page of the Anchorage Daily News.  A parent concerned with how local communities across the nation view this very issue of Internet filtering can search for newspaper articles and editorials to compare views and solutions from around the nation.

Federal subsidies can enable children to research topics in seconds that used to require hours or days.  They carry the potential to allow libraries to return to their roots as the center of town culture, a meeting place where citizens can obtain and exchange the news of the day.  However, tying the federal subsidies to the use of filtering software will prevent any of these benefits from being realized.

Current filtering software does not have the ability to discern between words within context.  Articles on subjects such as breast cancer, AIDS, and human rights have been blocked because of language in those articles.  Some filtering software would even block this very letter based on the inclusion of the word "breast."  This should scare anybody interested in the free flow of information — in other words, anyone interested in promoting beneficial Internet use.

Technology is improving on a daily basis.  Perhaps five years from now filtering software will be capable of blocking indecent material while allowing full access to research tools such as online news publications.  S 1619, while well-intentioned, harms the ability of readers to fully benefit from Internet access.  In turn, the threat of losing a major percentage of readers will deter newspaper editors and publishers from continuing to put out an online edition of their papers.  We have come too far to let that happen due to legislation that is best left for another day.