Internet Safety Education May Be Catching On in Congress
From the Center for Democracy & Technology:
It seems Congress may be getting the message that Internet safety education — rather than mandatory censorship or burdensome regulatory regimes — represents the brightest hope for protecting kids online. In recent weeks, we’ve been pleased to see bills introduced in the House and Senate that direct the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a public awareness and education campaign on Internet safety.Representative Melissa Bean (D-IL) introduced the SAFER NET Act — “Safeguarding America’s Families by Enhancing and Reorganizing New and Efficient Technologies Act” (H.R. 3461) — that directs the FTC to create a program to educate “families, businesses, organizations and other users” about how safely to engage in e-commerce, and protect “against threats to financial information and privacy, threats from cyber-crime, and threats to juveniles, including cyber-predators and material that is inappropriate for minors.”
Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) introduced a bill (S. 1965) with nearly identical language. His “Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act” also directs the FTC to conduct a public awareness and education campaign, but with the narrower focus of promoting “safe online activity for children,” protecting “children from cyber-crimes, including crimes by online predators,” and helping “parents shield their children from material that is inappropriate for minors.” (Although CDT supports the education provisions of this bill, we have serious concerns about other parts of the legislation.)
Both the SAFER NET Act and the Stevens bill would provide substantial funding for these education campaigns: approximately $10 million over the next two years.