CSC 379:Week 5, Group 6

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Safety and Internet Social Networks

Overview

Solutions

Limit Access in Public Places

Idea
Limit or eliminate the ability of individuals to access social networking sites in public places, such as schools or libraries, as in the Deleting Online Predator's Act of 2006

Rationale and Arguments
Proponents of this approach often cite that while the primary duty to protect and educate children falls with parents, locations such as schools and libraries are places where minors often lack parental supervision, and access to social networking sites should be limited to locations where parents can monitor the activity of their children. Schools and libraries, they further contend, are places of education, and while this approach often allows exemptions for the educational study of social networking, government-maintained computers and public institutions of education are not the appropriate place for online socialization. Also, they note that while the current availability of the Internet in libraries makes the resources of cyberspace available to all, it also provides the the questionable resource of a free, quick, simple, and wide-reaching way for adults to contact minors through social networks. Limitation of social networking sites in the public, it is argued, would at least make such access and contact somewhat more difficult, while leaving the majority of the benefits of the Internet intact.

Opponents of this approach question how much it would truly accomplish in keeping so-called "predators" at bay, as well as the true cost for such limited gains. They point out that preventing those who target children from accessing social networking sites in libraries does not prevent them from finding other ways to gain access - at home, work, or with friends. Also, while carefully limiting the behavior of children when outside of parental supervision seems a good idea in principle, a significant problem arises in attempting to legislate precisely what constitutes a "social networking site." While such sites are easily recognizable by those familiar with the technology, the current legislative definition, per the DOPA, would potentially limit access to a number of websites generally agreed to not be of a social networking nature, including Yahoo!, Slashdot, and perhaps, in the future, even Google. The implication of this fact would be to severely mitigate, if not essentially nullify entirely, the value of offering public access to the Internet in libraries at all.

Legality
This approach to promoting safety on social networking sites appears to be entirely legal, a point underwritten by the fact that there is presently an act in Congress with the aim of making this particular approach into a federal law. The only presently reasonably foreseeable challenge to the law on Constitutional grounds would be the broad but historically ineffectual assertion that the tenth amendment to the Constitution prohibits federal involvement in schools and libraries.

Require Age Verification via Credit Card

Require Age Verification via National Identification

Restrict Access by Age

Restrict Access by Felons

Restrict Access to the Domestically Violent

Restrict Access by the Mentally Ill

Limit Submittable Data

Information Validation

Parental Oversight and Education

Legislation

DOPA COPPA

Ethical Considerations

Examine the ethical implications of laws that restrict use of social networking services and other internet-based software on the basis of age or criminal record (such as for sex offenders). What are the advantages of these laws and what are the trade-offs for the prospect of increased safety that these laws promise? What are some difficulties in judging the effectiveness of these laws? How does dangerous use of internet social networks by society relate to other dangerous uses of software? When may legislation be appropriate to control use of software by members of society?

Relevant External Links

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