On April 4, 2014, the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) teamed up to celebrate 404 Day- the day that honors this little message that pops up when there’s an error and you can’t access a webpage. The OIF and EFF took this opportunity talk about the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).
Enacted in 2000, CIPA was written to address concerns about the exposure of children to pornography and other explicit content, through the implementation of browser filters. Additionally, public and school libraries that adhere to CIPA and apply to filters to at least the internet devices in their children’s department, are eligible for government funding. More information on CIPA can be found at the FCC website and the OIF website as well.
Through a Google+ Hangout streamed on YouTube, Intellectual Freedom buffs Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Sarah Houghton, and Chris Petersen talked about what CIPA really means for libraries, how to cope with CIPA, and how to get your board to reconsider CIPA.
Since the Hangout is available for you to watch here, I won’t rehash the whole thing, but I will share some important points:
- Many people think they understand CIPA fully, but they actually don’t. If you don’t understand ask questions!
- Filters are mainly English-centric. If you have access to a translator page or spell some of the search terms wrong, you will most likely be able to bypass the filter.
- Only lighter skin tones are recognized as skin tones. Therefore, a filter might block any variation of this.
- When asked the best way to start a library board to reconsider their filters and compliance with CIPA, Sarah recommended moving the conversation from a conversation about morality to a cost benefit analysis. For example, how well are the filters doing their job? Do things get blocked by the filter, that shouldn’t be? How much does it cost to have these filters in both time and money?
Also, Deborah shared that the OIF will be releasing a new white paper at the end of the month on the topic of CIPA and its role in your library.
Remember, the ALSC IF Committee is always here for you if you have questions about intellectual freedom issues or if you are facing a challenge (it doesn’t have to make the news!). We’re here to help, so feel free to reach out via ALA Connect or email.