For LGBT people of all ages the Internet can play an incredibly important role in terms of their queer identities. For some that might meaning reading about LGBT identities and helping them discover or come to terms with their own, for some it might just be used as an escape when their real life community is less accepting and for others, the access to LGBT resources could be a matter of life and death.
Despite this, in schools and libraries it can often be difficult to access this content due to federally-mandated web filtering systems. A huge problem for many people, several congressmen have urged the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to fix it.
The founder and chair of the Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus, Rep. Mike Honda, is the congressman behind the push. In a letter written to the FCC last week he explains that
“It has been reported to me that filtering software also can be used to block much more. Regrettably, Internet content filtering software can — intentionally or unintentionally — be used to block access to particular viewpoints in a discriminatory manner.”
Rep. Mike Honda, Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus
The filters are usually in place to protect young people from harmful or inappropriate content but they regularly flag up LGBT-related content as ‘harmful or inappropriate’ due to the fact that sometimes, the people searching for LGBT content are doing it for unsavoury reasons. From that side of things it makes sense – no one is asking that they be relaxed, just that they are changed so that what should be kept out is kept out and what’s entirely acceptable makes it through – which is exactly the point of an online filter in the first place.
Ian Thompson of the American Civil Liberties Union adds that
“Unintentionally or not, internet filtering software can be employed in a discriminatory manner that denies LGBT students in crisis a much-needed lifeline for support. The FCC now has an opportunity to address this problem, and they should act to do so.”
Ian Thompson, American Civil Liberties Union
So while the FCC is yet to comment, hopefully they’ll change their policies given the importance and how much is at stake.
