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ACLU president speaks at USU
By John Valenti
American Civil Liberties Union president Nadine Strossen wants to prevent government from acting as the "Big Brother" of cyberspace.
She compared current legislation that censors online free speech to George Orwellšs fictional thought police during her lecture in USUšs Taggart Student Center Ballroom on Thursday.
In her speech, titled "Sex Lies and Cyberspace," Strossen told the audience of USU students and faculty that every individual has the First Amendment right to express his or her views over the Internet, regardless of how controversial those ideas may be.
She said information on the Web should not be censored based on government standards of decency. Web sites that have been labeled "pornographic" have the same right to be there as anything else. She explained that interpretations of images and ideas are subjective and cannot be placed in the hands of the government, nor can they be dictated by majority opinion.
"Where I part company with them and with everybody else who, in my view, is a censor, is that they are trying to impose their interpretations on the rest of us and deny us the right to have our own interpretation and make our own choices," said Strossen.
She added that the ACLU often defends groups, such as the Christian Coalition and the American Family Association, that oppose her stand on other issues. Strossen said the ACLU is strictly non-partisan and exists to protect everyone's right to free expression.
"When we have deeply held values... it is especially important for us to resist any form of censorship, whether it be through the heavy hand of government outlawing certain expression, or whether it be through the seemingly less direct rout of government mandated filtering laws and software," she said.
Strossen pointed out that, although she does not condone some of the material available on the Web, individuals should be able to decide on their own values and those of their family.
"The ACLU is a pro-family organization," she said. "We just donšt think that Big Brother is a welcome member of the American family."
She said that parents have the right to shield and develop the values and education of their children, and should not rely on outside powers to regulate what can be seen in their own home.
According to Strossen, who is also a professor of law at New York University Law School, minors have the same First Amendment rights as adults, which is one reason why she opposes software designed to censor certain material in public schools and libraries.
"We're not comfortable with the courts continuing to assume that there is something inherently dangerous to minors about sexually oriented expression," she said.
Strossen said instances in which she believes speech should be restricted is with obscenity and cases of child endangerment, such as child pornography.
Strossen said information-filtering software is dangerous because it encourages viewpoint discrimination, which is unconstitutional. She said that sexually explicit Web sites can not be censored, even if they are offensive to some Internet users.
"The United States Supreme Court has ruled that government may never suppress or punish expression merely because the majority of the community, even a large majority, disagrees with... the idea," she said.
Cyber-speech is allowed the highest protection under the First Amendment, according to Strossen. Unlike television and radio, the Internet has never been placed under government regulation by Americašs highest court.
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