A number of state legislatures are considering a law that would put a pornography filter on laptops, cellphones and routers connected to the internet and levy a $20 tax to remove it. The law is being promoted by Chris Sevier, a man with a checkered past that included jail time. The American Civil Liberties Union says the law is unconstitutional censorship and that child pornography is already prosecuted on a regular basis. (The Daily Beast, April 10, 2017, by Ben Coillins and Brandy Zadrozny)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation opposes the law arguing that it would result in over-censorship as companies, fearing legal action, would block “content by default rather than [give] websites the benefit of the doubt.” Companies heretofore providing free and open access to the internet would be required to set up “massive censorship apparatus.” Wyoming rejected the law while Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia are currently considered some version of the law. (EFF, April 12, 2017, 2017, by Dave Maass)