An Alternative to Government Regulation and Censorship: Content Advisory Systems for the Internet

Authors

• C. Dianne Martin, George Washington University
• Joseph M. Reagle, MIT

Abstract

The explosive growth of online services and access in the United States and other technologically sophisticated nations has resulted in a huge increase of on-line users below the age of eighteen. With this increase, there has been an accompanying surge in the availability of adult oriented content and services. Consequently, a plethora of government policies and industry strategies have emerged that attempt to shield the public, and in particular children, from exposure to content deemed inappropriate.

Due to the competing interests between government control and regulation of content on the one hand, and individual privacy, autonomy, and free speech on the other hand, several industry coalitions have formed to develop and endorse voluntary content labeling and blocking systems. Such mechanisms are embedded in the very technologies that create the problem, thus providing technological alternatives to censorship and regulation of the Internet.

Disciplines

Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law | Internet Law | Law | Science and Technology Law

Recommended Citation

C. D. Martin & Joseph M. Reagle, An Alternative to Government Regulation and Censorship: Content Advisory Systems for the Internet, 15 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 409 (1997).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cardozoaelj/vol15/iss2/7