Common sense tells us that the Internet is for porn, but latest research does not reflect this. A report from Berkley statistician Philip B. Stark on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice indicates that only 1% of websites searchable by Google are porn, and that search engine filters manage to block 87-98% of sexually explicit content.

The report comes from the trial stage of the case American Civil Liberties Union vs Gonzalez (formerly ACLU v Reno and ACLU v Ashcroft), which is underway. The case was brought by the ACLU against the U.S. Department of Justice to declare the Children Online Protection Act (COPA) unconstitutional because it violates freedom of speech. The report will not help the case by the DoJ, as it is clear that filters are working, and little children are not always exposed to porn the moment they log into their computer.

Categories: Regulation

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.