Especially for Parents

News and Commentary by Sharon Secor
April 2003

Children, Computers and Pornography

Can you imagine taking your teenager or child into the downtown area of a large city, such as New York or Los Angeles, and walking away, leaving your child to fend for himself as best he can? Allowing a child to use a computer without adequate supervision and protection is doing almost exactly that.

In a large city there are many incredible learning opportunities, including the greatest museums and libraries our country has to offer. A computer also offers fascinating educational opportunities. With access to the Internet, a person can explore the wonders of the world, past and present, from the comfort of his or her home. Yet, like any great city, the Internet also draws opportunists and predators. There is real danger.

A 2001 Kaiser Family Foundation study (PDF file) found that 70% of teens (ages 15-17) had "accidentally come across" pornography while on the Internet. Of these teens, 55% said "being exposed to pornography would have a serious impact on kids under 18."

"Porn spam," often with graphic subject lines, that advertises and often links to pornographic Web sites, intrudes upon the lives of millions of people daily. Spammers, those who send these unsolicited mass e-mailings, have no concerns about the age or sensitivities of the recipients. The Web site www.obscenitycrimes.org provides citizens with a convenient means online to report possible violations of federal Internet obscenity laws. From March 12 through April 11, 2514 reports were submitted to the site that indicated receipt of porn spam, and of these reports 974 (38.7%) were checked: "My child was (or easily could have been) exposed to the porn spam."

Pedophiles routinely prowl Internet chat rooms looking for vulnerable children and teens, striking up on-line relationships that can be used to lure these young people from their homes and into harms way. Pornography and child pornography, easily accessed and sent through the Internet, often come into play as agents of desensitization and normalization, a grooming technique used by predators to prepare youth for sexual abuse.

Parents have been able to gain a certain measure of safety through Internet filters, as well as from family friendly sites and service providers. There are many options available with which to enhance the safety of the family Internet experience. However, for those who are less technologically developed than others, choosing Internet service providers (ISPs) and protective software programs can be an intimidating task.

Sites such as safekids.com and getnetwise.org are excellent sources of clear and direct information for parents and children. With an impressive array of useful and readily accessible information, getnetwise.org is a good starting point for concerned parents. The board of advisors of this organization includes Donna Rice Hughes, founder of ProtectKids.com and author of Kids Online: Protecting Your Children in Cyberspace.

In addition to opening vast educational resources, the computer has revolutionized communications. Instantly, your child can communicate with almost anyone at almost any place in the world. He can speak to a history professor in Italy, his school friends, or a pedophile seeking his next victim. Combine this with new cell phone technologies that allow the cell phone user to connect with the Internet, send Instant Messages, access e-mail, and even post photographs on the Web, and the opportunities for unsupervised and potentially dangerous communications increases dramatically.

Syndicated columnist for the L.A. Times and host of SafeKids.com, Larry Magid addresses these issues in a recent column inspired by his participation in a March 6-7, 2003, conference held in Tokyo, sponsored by Childnet International, an organization based in the United Kingdom, and the Internet Association of Japan.

"Predators can not only send kids messages, but they can also call them to arrange meetings," wrote Magid. "It's common practice in Europe for predators to groom a child on the Internet and then contact that child via cell phone," continued Magid. As cell phone usage among American youth continues to increase, this threat will also increase.

Learning to manage the cell phone features that control the display of personal information provides some protection, but isn't foolproof. Magid stresses the importance of parents communicating the potential dangers of these technologies to their children.

Among the activities that children and teens engage in online, peer-to-peer file sharing has again come under serious scrutiny from government officials and groups committed to keeping kids safe, online and off. Most are familiar with the court battles between the music industry and such peer-to-peer music sharing facilitating sites as Napster. According to a March 13, 2003, Washington Post article, the music industry estimates that 41% of music sharing and downloading is done by children 12 to 18 years of age.

Peer-to-peer file sharing carries its own dangers, as has been confirmed by the General Accounting Office and the House Committee on Government Reform. While Napster and similar sites focused primarily on music, other sites have sprung up that allow the exchange of basically any type of file, including videos, software and photos.

"Seemingly innocent searches for files containing images of popular cartoon characters, singers and actors produce thousands of graphic pornographic images including child pornography, " said Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, who chaired the March 13 Committee on Government Reform hearings on the subject (PDF), according to the Washington Post article.

Using Kazaa file sharing software, Committee investigators found that 56% of the results for searches for files using the search words "Britney", the "Olsen twins" and "Pokemon" were pornographic in nature, and 8% of these involved underage participants. In addition, the Washington Post reported, when using terms intended to locate pornography, 44% of the search results offered pornography featuring underage youth.

According to a July 27, 2001, minority staff report (PDF), Children's Access to Pornography Through Internet File-Sharing Programs, prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Rep. Steve Largent, the new breed of file sharing programs does not operate through a central server like Napster did. Instead, once the initial software program is downloaded, programs such as Limewire, Bearshare and Aimster search computers connected to the file-sharing network without the need to use an Internet browser like Internet Explorer.

Many of the filters used by parents to prevent access to pornography cannot be relied upon to protect children in the case of this type of peer-to-peer file sharing. According to the minority staff report, only one of the top seven parental control systems, Internet Guard Dog, was able to protect at its default settings by preventing file sharing. Using advanced programming options, Cyber Sitter and Norton Internet Security 2001 also prevent file sharing.

Pornographers and predators will use any means necessary to reach their desired targets. They make the most of rapidly changing technologies, and parents must be vigilant in the protection of their families. The protections offered by various technologies are temporary, as those who would prey on children constantly strive to find ways around existing systems. Supervision is essential, as is cultivating a working knowledge of the computer and its associated technologies. In addition to these basic steps, insisting that existing federal Internet obscenity laws be enforced (see the www.obscenitycrimes.org Web site) and supporting legislation to protect children from predators and pornographers will help ensure that the benefits of our new technologies will outweigh the dangers.

In an April 11, 2003, article published on dc.internet.com, Roy Mark reported that Congress voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of legislation aimed at the distribution of "pseudo child porn" (i.e., computer generated pornographic images of children) and legislation aimed at preventing pornographers from using "misleading domain names" to lure children and other unsuspecting users to their sites was passed. Penalties include fines and incarceration. These items were among amendments to the Child Abduction Prevention Act of 2003. The House vote was 400 to 25; the Senate vote was 98 to 0.