Child Safety vs. Freedom of Speech

The Internet is not the safest place for anyone, let alone innocent children. There are millions of websites out there that are devoted solely to pornography. Even if the children don’t look for it, they may still encounter pornography on the Internet because there are explicit ads that are often placed in innocuous places where everything is just a click away.

It’s not just the pornography that's dangerous. There are also individuals who use the anonymity of the Internet to try and solicit sex from children. Kids who don’t know any better may automatically assume that all their Internet friends are around their age and harmless.

The solution may seem simple: stop allowing people to host sexually explicit material on the Internet. However, the government cannot close down all the pornographic websites because of the First Amendment which promises the right to freedom of speech. The Internet is an open platform so the blocking of websites is considered a violation of the First Amendment.

Censorship in America has always been a gray issue. There are even organizations that act as watchdogs to make sure people know when a new law is proposed that would censor any aspect of the Internet. The same thing happened when the TV programs started to get more violent and sexually explicit. Watchdog groups like Parents TV started protesting that some shows were unsuitable for children and the consensus seemed to be that parents should be the ones protecting their children. 

On the Internet, there are several ways to promote child safety and even web hosting companies who provide parental controls. Most search engines have filtering systems such as Google’s SafeSearch which allows people to set the filtering level of search results, keeping kids further from sexually explicit material. However, the censoring of websites has been rejected by mainstream users time and time again.

The FBI has created an extensive guide to help you keep your child safe online. It tells you what to look for if you think your child may have been solicited for sex. There are a few rules of thumb to go by when allowing your children to use the Internet. Make sure your child never gives out any personal information and you have to keep track of your child’s Internet activities. There are many different brands of software available for parents who seek to protect their kids online. Password-protect the computer and place the computer in a place where you know when it’s on. Be very careful about who you let your child contact as some places are notoriously dangerous.

The best person to protect your kids is you. The Internet is an extremely powerful tool but there are dangers. Learning how to balance child safety and freedom of speech is the key which unlocks the full benefits of the Internet.