[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 193 (Wednesday, December 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S18098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS BILL CONFERENCE

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the action of the House Members on the 
telecommunications bill conference this morning should send tremors 
through the Internet community and defenders of the first amendment. 
They agreed to a provision that would effectively ban constitutionally 
protected speech on the Internet.
  If this amendment becomes law, no longer will Internet users be able 
to engage in freewheeling discussions in news groups and other areas on 
the Internet accessible to minors. They will have to limit all language 
used and topics discussed to that appropriate for kindergarteners, just 
in case a minor clicks onto the discussion. No literary quotes from 
racy parts of ``Catcher in the Rye'' or ``Ulysses'' will be allowed. 
Certainly, online discussions of safe sex practices, of birth control 
methods, and of AIDS prevention methods will be suspect. Any user who 
crosses the vague and undefined line of ``indecency'' will be subject 
to 2 years in jail and fines.
  We have already seen the chilling effect that even the prospect of 
this legislation has had on online service providers. Last week, 
American On Line deleted the profile of a Vermonter who communicated 
with fellow breast cancer survivors online. Why? Because, according to 
AOL, she used the vulgar word ``breast''. AOL later apologized and 
indicated it would permit the use of that word where appropriate.
  This is a serious misstep by the House Members of the 
telecommunications bill conference. I urge the full conference to 
consider the threat this amendment poses to the future growth of the 
Internet, and reject it.

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