On July 26, the House approved, 410-15, a bill (H.R. 5319) that would restrict minors’ use of commercial social networking websites and chat rooms at schools and libraries that receive discounted service through the federal Universal Service Fund. The bill was brought directly to the House floor, bypassing the Energy and Commerce Committee. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing to examine the bill on July 11 (see The Source, 7/14/06).
Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL) said, “With more than 90 million users, MySpace.com and other networking websites have become new hunting grounds for child predators. Something clearly has to be done. This bill is a good start. At least let’s give parents some comfort that their children won’t fall prey while using the Internet at schools and libraries that receive federal funding for Internet services.”
Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) opposed the bill, stating, “Rather than restricting Internet usage, parents, teachers and librarians need to teach children how to use our ever changing technology.” She went on to say, “Just like students need to know how to differentiate between good research and bad research on websites, they need to know how to utilize chat rooms and other media so they will not become victims of online predators.” Rep. Watson expressed her concern that “a bill of this magnitude will send us down the slippery slope of legislating even more websites and infringing on our right to information.”
