WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate a law that penalizes Web site operators who expose children to inappropriate material such as pornography.
The appeal, filed Aug. 11 by Solicitor General Theodore Olson, declares that a ruling earlier this year by the high court about pornography is not sufficient, The Associated Press reported. In that decision, the court ruled that Congress can require public libraries that receive federal money to equip computers with anti-pornography filters.
Children are “unprotected from the harmful effects of the enormous amount of pornography on the World Wide Web,” Olson argued.
An appellate court has twice overruled the broader law he is asking the Supreme Court to reconsider. The Philadelphia-based appeals court said the Child Online Protection Act restricts speech in an unconstitutional manner.
That law mandates that operators of commercial Web sites use some form of adults-only screening system or credit cards to prevent children from seeing material deemed harmful to them. Operators who do not comply could face jail time and fines.” (TAB)
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