Kern County library computers use Internet blocking software to keep children from accessing pornography. Now the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is threatening to sue unless that software is deactivated.
“For over a year the county has been blocking access to many sites on the Internet that are valuable and constitutionally protected both for adults and for minors. … In short, the use of filtering software is simply inconsistent with both constitutional mandates and good policy,” the ACLU wrote in a letter addressed to the county counsel in Bakersfield.
County supervisors told the library to add blocking to its Internet terminals, and bought a program made by the Seattle-based N2H2, which reviews Internet sites for suitability. The ACLU says the software blocks sites with information on safe sex, AIDS, homosexuality, and literature that includes vulgar language.
– E.P. News
