Federal Internet act won’t affect universities
By Joe Kleinsasser
The federal Children’s Internet Protection Act will not affect Wichita State, according to Ruth Jackson, dean of university libraries.
The act, scheduled to go into effect in April, may impact public libraries and elementary and secondary schools who receive federal funds, but not college and university libraries.
In a nutshell, the Children’s Internet Protection Act attaches some strings to the acquisition of new federal funds. Public libraries and schools applying for new federal funds will need to document that they have or plan to purchase filtering software that protects children from obscenity and pornography.
WSU does not currently receive funding impacted by this act and therefore will not be directly affected by it, Jackson said.
Nevertheless, the current application of the Children’s Internet Protection Act bears watching, she said, because if this act is extended to include funding received by higher education, it could have a chilling effect on academic freedom.
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