We Must Make Virtual Child Pornography Illegal Essay

As a consequence the Internet has become a significant tool in the distribution of indecent/pseudo photographs and video clips of children and young people. It is used for online banking, buying and selling goods, finding information and for socialising with others. Images can even be downloaded through satellite navigation systems.

It’s time to separate the child sex offender from the children being accused of sex offending unreasonably. There are many stories of teenagers 15, 16, 17, just trying on young love for the first time. What should be happy memories can be turned to shame, and they don’t even have to have actual intercourse for it to be called a “sex offense.” Here are some examples of needed changes to our laws:

Prior to the Child Protection Act of 1984, which made the purchase of child pornography illegal, Keith Jacobson of Nebraska, ordered child pornography from a bookstore. At the time of the transaction, the purchase was legal under both state and federal laws. Following the establishment of the Child Protection Act, Jacobson’s name was noted on a mailing list form the bookstore where he made the purchase. The discovery of his name led to Government agencies and “pen pals” mailing Jacobson as a way to explore if he would break the law. The efforts began in 1985 and persisted for two and a half years. The mailings consisted of various questionnaires, and literature on the legalization of child pornography. One of the letters supplied Jacobson with a list of “pen pals” that had similar responses to the questionnaires; however, Jacobson did not initiate any contact with them. Following his failure to contact any of the names provided, the Government began to commence communication. Jacobson began to receive letters from these fictitious pen pals but stopped responding after only a couple of them. Government agencies also supplied Jacobson with various brochures advertising pornography of young males. After repeated efforts, Jacobson made the decision to make a purchase. He was arrested upon its delivery.

In this article it explains how two teenagers were criminally charged for sending nudes to each other showing the consequences many states face when they prosecute sexting. Like most states, North Carolina has yet to update child pornography laws used to charge minors who are caught sexting and the laws can carry stiff penalties including prison time. The North Carolina case began when nude photos were found on the boy’s phone in late 2014. It led to a year of uncertainty for the teens, who are now 17, until they struck deals in recent weeks to reduce the charges and give them a pathway to clearing their records.

Government witness Howard Schmidt conceded under cross-examination that it is “highly unlikely” for anyone to come across sexually explicit information on the Internet by accident. Plaintiff witness Dr. Albert Vezza told the court about PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection), a new rating system designed to allow parents to control children’s access to the Internet without censorship. Dan

The first part of the CDA states if you display "indecent" or "patently offensive" information on the Internet, "in a manner available to a person under eighteen years of age," you are a criminal and have broken the law. The second part of the CDA reads you have a defense against prosecution if you take "reasonable, effective, and appropriate action" by restricting access to minors by needing a credit card (verified), debit account, adult access code, or adult personal identification number. This act is to be thought of as a way to legally zone porn behind and electric gate that can only be accessed by those who have adult identification. To receive full access to pornographic materials, one can pay a one-time fee of $9.95 to an "Adult Check" service (Levy 54). Also the Child Pornography Protection Act has been passed. It is to combat the use of computer technology that enables a pornographer to alter a picture of a child to make it seem as though the child engaged in an explicit sex act (Quittner 74). Rulings about child pornography have existed for years and will always enacted whether it is in the cyber universe or in magazine and movies. State laws are also being made against smut found on the inter net. New York passed a law making information found on the Internet that would be illegal if published in a book or magazine, illegal. People who violate the law could receive up to four years in jail (Rosen

In the state of Indiana, there are specific regulations that prohibit activities that are predatory against children. This is taking place under Section IC 35-42-4 of the criminal code. The different provisions of the law that deal with these issues include: rape, criminal deviant conduct, child molestation, the exploitation of a minor, sexual conduct in the presence of a juvenile, solicitation, seduction, sexual battery, sexual misconduct with a minor, inappropriate communication, using the Internet to target children and it is providing guidelines for the registration of convicted sex offenders. These different elements are demonstrating how the state has strict guidelines that are designed to protect children. (Hall, 2012) (Scheb, 2008)

He states that we cannot say, "the First Amendment is so sacrosanct that we must stand idly by while our children are inundated with pornography and smut on the Internet" (Exon 156).

In 2005, the State Department surveyed that there are approximately 100,000-300,000 children who are being sexually exploited in the United States. In 2013, the FBI had decided to do a three day bust on sexually exploited children. They managed to arrest 150 pimps across the U.S. and save 105 children trapped in sexual exploitation. Child pornography can be described as the same thing as prostitution but in this situation, children are being photographed and filmed doing sexual things against their will. After the photographers and film makers are satisfied with their work the then, proceed to send it to paying clients and post it on the internet for all to see for a small price. The United States are one of the largest producers and consumers of child pornography. In 2005, “study revealed that 83 percent of arrested child pornography offenders had images involving children between the ages 6 and 12; 39 percent had images of children between ages 3 and 5; and 19 percent had images of infants and toddlers under age 3.” In the book, Girls Like Us, Rachel Lloyd interviews a young girl by the name of Danielle who is only eleven and she was controlled by a pimp. It tells of her experience and how her pimp was beating her. She was only eleven. In fact, most of the children who are sex trafficked in the United States are

Misguided laws are compounded by media outlets use of the very words regarding sex offenses. I found an interesting study by the National Center For Reason

Since the internet has been available in schools and libraries in this country, there has been a debate about what should be accessible to users, especially minors. The amount of information disseminated on the world wide web is vast, with some sources valuable for scholarly and personal research and entertainment, and some sources that contain material that is objectionable to some (ie. pornography, gambling, hate groups sites, violent materials). Some information potentially accessible on the internet such as child pornography and obscenity is strictly illegal and is not protected under the First Amendment. Some information available on the internet that may be valuable to some is at the same time perceived to be worthless or

The Internet is a global network of vast information. With a few clicks, an individual can have access to up to 200 million web-sites filled with educational and recreational information. The Internet is not regulated in anyway (Carnegie Library 1). It is accessible throughout the entire world from the North to the South, to the early morning sunrise and dark sunsets. Different ethnicity and backgrounds come together linked upon this network resembling a connection of one body in unity. Sadly, issues arise creating concern for users, focusing particularly on minors. Pornography is one of the inappropriate materials on the Internet for minors. This material is harmful to young impressionable minds. Pornography is tearing and

Pornography for years have been an easy access for pretty much people of all ages to watch freely on the internet (Phillips, 2014). So

In recent years, pornography has established itself as perhaps the most controversial topic arising out of the use of the Internet. The easy availability of this type of sexually explicit material has caused a panic among government officials, family groups, religious groups and law enforcement bodies and this panic has been perpetuated in the media.

“Never before in history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent (and obscene material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions” (qtd in “Pornography and Child Sexual Abuse”). The problem addressed in the quote by the U.S. Department of Justice is pornography, a 10 billion dollar industry, has made its way from discreet taboo to something that is today considered acceptable and even common. With the internet being such a common tool, it is no surprise that there is easy access to sexually explicit material. The widespread accessibility and usage of pornography has changed people’s outlook on the normality of watching such sexually explicit material, and