We need to:
The Internet has proven to be one of the greatest tools of human expression in history. Americans enjoy the strongest free speech rights on the Internet of any country in the world. However, over the past decade, policymakers eager to protect children from inappropriate content or dangerous contacts have proposed a range of measures that would stifle speech and innovation and restrict access to lawful content and constitutionally protected speech.
Although children should be protected online as well as off, censorship laws and measures that place web operators in the role of gatekeepers interfere with constitutionally protected speech and are not effective ways to improve children's online safety. Instead, governmental efforts should aim at empowering and educating parents and children about smart online behavior, providing them with the filters and other tools that can guide a child's online experiences.
Ill-considered censorship measures and technology mandates aimed at child protection would seriously discourage innovation online and stifle the dynamic and economically important evolution of technology that we have witnessed over the past 15 years. Children can be protected without interfering with the development of new online applications and services.
In order to preserve free speech and protect children online, President Obama and Congress should take specific steps, including the following:
