Try to imagine that you have to provide your identification every time you feel like watching all the series or browsing through your social media accounts. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, a recent bill proposed in California tried to do just that. Fortunately, this particular bill has been killed and let’s make sure it remains dead!
What was the Main Idea of This Bill?
The bill, called A.B. 3080, proposed that people ought to present some kind of identification to view sites with a particular level of ‘sexually suggestive’ content. This could have involved, for instance, sending a scanned copy of your passport to confirm your age.
Why This Bill Was a Big No
First of all, it was totally unclear what exactly was meant by ‘sexually explicit’ content. Did it feature only adult content, or was it a site that occasionally featured some adult content while primarily hosting family-friendly material?
Further, such bills are censorship in a different package. It makes politicians the ones to dictate what is appropriate for us to know and that is a very dangerous path to tread on. Today it is vulgarities; tomorrow, who knows what such freedom will be allowed to disseminate? Perhaps, they will begin banning anything that is hot and can cause controversy. Historically, however, the moment you start allowing censorship it becomes very difficult to stop.
The Fight for Freedom Continues
Groups such as EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) and many others opposed it from the very beginning. They understood that this was not just about defending children; it was about defending everyone’s freedom to access information on the internet.
Guys, we have the right for free access to the articles and videos online, and this right was recognized by the Supreme Court a few times. In such decisions as this, the Supreme Court of the United States said that the government has no right to become the censor of what adults want to see on the Internet.
And let’s be real; the notion that uploading our IDs on the sites is right is laughable. This is so wrong on so many levels, not only as an invasion of privacy, but also as an obvious security breach. The essence of safety measures is the same as providing the keys of their home to anyone willing to take them every time they approach their house. No one desires to have their private details as exposed on the internet as they currently are.
The other States are not far behind and have also established positive relations with the people affected.
California is not alone in experimenting with this sort of idea. Both Texas and Tennessee have introduced similar legislation as well. Tennessee, for example, has criminal penalties—so they’ll lock you up for just linking to explicit content!
The Bottom Line: Let’s Keep the Internet Free.
Nevertheless, we have to remember that the Internet should remain a space that will not make users seem like they’re constantly being watched. The additional battle to secure its unwavering state remains a possibility. Despite the fact that A. B. 3080 is no more in the world, one must not let their guard down.
