Is a part of society over-reacting to the accessibility of pornographic material on the Internet? Is pornographic material as easily accessible as some believe?

Julia Wilkins is an author of several books and articles on educating children. Wilkins claims there are people in our society who create moral panic when referring to availability of pornographic material on the Internet. Wilkins defines moral panic, in part, as an overwhelming amount of public concern, usually out of proportion to the actual priority of the issue, which society views as a threat. For instance, Wilkins refers to Time magazine cover article of July 3, 1995 which headlines read "On Screen near You: Cyberporn". This article was based on a Law Journal paper, which did not receive peer review prior to its publication in Time and was written by Marty Rimm at Georgetown University on the subject of marketing pornography on the super highway. The article portrayed the Internet as a way for pornography to be easily accessed by anyone who could turn on a computer. It even went as far as publishing pictures showing couples engaged in acts of sodomy, intercourse and

points out many valid concerns pertaining to the use of the Internet by children, pedophiles and other sexual predators. He advocates for parental intervention with parents educating their children of the dangers that are lurking on the Internet.

the damage was already done. Wilkens states the Time article set a course of action in motion towards censorship with legislative intervention. Politicians became involved in this issue and, as a result of Rimms research, although flawed, it was referred to on the United States Senate floor with credibility. As a result, a bill was drafted making it a criminal offense to transmit indecent material to minors over the Internet. Wilkens states this was the beginning of inhibiting free speech on the Internet. This also led to the Communications Decency Act (CDA), which labeled the transmission of "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, indecent or patently offensive" pornography over the Internet a crime. However, Wilkens says this law did not go unchallenged. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) eventually became involved in the process and set into motion legal proceedings rigorously challenging the CDA. The ACLU stated it violated the United States Constitutions first amendm!

Bob Trebilcock is an occasional writer for Redbook magazine and writes articles on news and social issues. Trebilcock states that access to pornography is a very simple process and even a novice computer operator can easily access and obtain pornography with a simple click of the mouse. Further, Trebilcock states that pedophiles use the Internet trying to seduce children and swap pornographic photos of children engaged in deviant sexual acts, with pedophiles. In addition to the pornographic photographs, Trebilcock also viewed snap shots of children unwittingly photographed at play in parks and at the beach, which he states serve as pedophile love objects. Trebilcock refers to a training film that uses stories of a convicted pedophile who used the Intern

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Approximate Word count = 1339
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)