They say only in America. And only in America could law makers, elected representatives, put forward legislation that would punish and ban those under 18 from joining Social Networking sites and blogging, whilst totally ignoring the very people they are concerned about: online predators. I suppose in a society that allows every man and his dog to have a gun, that punishing the innocent whilst ignoring the guilty (or socially deviant in this case) makes sense.
From News.com:
MySpace and other social-networking sites like LiveJournal.com and Facebook are facing a new threat: a proposed federal law that would effectively require most schools and libraries to render those Web sites inaccessible to minors, an age group that includes some of the category’s most ardent users.
“When children leave the home and go to school or the public library and have access to social-networking sites, we have reason to be concerned,” Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, told CNET News.com in an interview.
Fitzpatrick and fellow Republicans, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, on Wednesday endorsed new legislation (click here for PDF) that would cordon off access to commercial Web sites that let users create public “Web pages or profiles” and also offer a discussion board, chat room, or e-mail service.
That’s a broad category that covers far more than social-networking sites such as Friendster and Google’s Orkut.com. It would also sweep in a wide range of interactive Web sites and services, including Blogger.com, AOL and Yahoo’s instant-messaging features, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which permits in-game chat.
That’s right. Punish the 16 and 17 year olds who are using these services, but the few sick people who might be a threat….well who give’s a rat you know what about them, because it’s all the kiddies fault. I’ve got to ask, do these people also think that a rape victim is responsible for their rape because they wore a short skirt? Funny really, here in Australia Muslim preachers recently said that exact thing. So the US Government, fighting their crusade against the Muslim World, is now basically trying to implement the same fanatical laws you do find in radical Muslim Countries.
Nuts really.
