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Drag 'Net: New Policy Group Wants to Test Online Filters
By Robert DiGiacomo, Philadelphia Gay News, September 22-28, 2000

Imagine you're at a public library, and you're attempting to use the Internet to research an author named Babcock. But you can't seem to get anywhere with your search.

Is the problem the spelling, the search engine or the key words?

These are all possible search snags, or it could be another factor beyond your control: filtering software triggered by the "cock" in Babcock trying to "shield" you from potentially obscene or inappropriate material.

That fictitious incident illustrates the serious flaws with most filtering software, and the potential danger of censorship in the name of "protecting" children or anyone else from the big, bad World Wide Web.

"One of the major issues we're facing right now is the mandatory use of filtering software," said Will Doherty, a former official at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation who has formed a new organization to address, among other online topics, this key issue. "It's not only parents using that software at home with their children. But more problematically, it's the use of these filters in public schools or libraries as mandated by local, state or federal government."

Doherty's fledgling organization, the Online Policy Group (www.onlinepolicy.org), is focusing on unlimited Web access, with filtering software a prime target because it all too often screens content pertaining to minorities, particularly gays and lesbians.

"When we have tested filtering software to determine the effect it has on l/g/b/t content, we have found that many products decimate the amount and quality of content that's available to our community," Doherty, who was formerly GLAAD's director of online community development.

It's not just gay and lesbian content that's threatened. All groups outside the mainstream potentially are subject to the whims of software writers' sense of what's appropriate.

Doherty's new group aims to have a broader focus to address the concerns of other minorities as well.

"That plays into the issue of the digital divide," Doherty said. "Adults who are living in their own homes and able to afford computers and Internet access have the opportunity to have uncensored access to the Internet. Anyone who depends on their parents, or has to get to a public library or public school for access, will get the government-sanctioned version of the content."

In addition to providing an information clearinghouse on these issues, the group will be monitoring major online service providers, such as America Online and Yahoo!, to determine if any of their practices are discriminatory, and conducting testing and research on the filtering software, as well as its community impact.

"We're trying to get a library and a school to do research on how this affects people who are using their services by testing the products themselves," Doherty said. "By testing the products themselves, even when we're not in an actual use situation, we can determine some of the effects the software will have."

Voluntary ratings systems, which currently are being tested by AOL, among other companies, will also come under the scrutiny of the Online Policy Group.

"[We] maintain [that] ratings don't work because the human culture and human language are too complex to be filtered and rated in a simple framework that can be delivered for a low cost throughout the entire Internet," Doherty said.

The idea is to use this research to empower decision makers on school and library boards, city councils, state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.

"This research can be used to make appropriate decisions on when, how and what types of filtering software to use," Doherty said.

This emphasis on research is important to David Gudelunas, a board member and graduate student in communications at the University of Pennsylvania. He says the group's San Francisco base will set it apart from other organizations concerned about web access.

"I think the Online Policy Group will be able to connect to the industry," Gudelunas said.

Ultimately, Doherty believes for the Web to be truly worldwide, access must remain open, and filtering be left to the individual.  

"I use filtering myself," he said. "When I use e-mail, I filter my e-mail to different in-boxes based on where it's coming from, or based on keywords in the e-mail. Of course, filtering makes sense as a voluntary tool. When it's mandated in a particular way by a government or school district or a library, it can't be implemented in a way that's fair to the diverse communities that these public institutions serve."

Robert DiGiacomo is a Philadelphia-based writer. "Drag 'Net" appears biweekly. Send comments to dragnetpgn@aol.com.

© 2000 Robert DiGiacomo

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