US lawmakers: FCC should ban the filtering of gay websites in schools
A group of US lawmakers have called on the Federal Communications Commission to ban schools and libraries from filtering LGBT-themed websites.
Democratic congressman Mike Honda signed an open letter alongside 13 other lawmakers, calling for the end to “discriminatory” filter.
The lawmakers are urging the FCC to update its regulations to state that “LGBT educational content should not be filtered in a discriminatory manner.”
The letter states: “Regrettably, Internet content-filtering software can intentionally or unintentionally—be used to block access to particular viewpoints in a discriminatory manner.
“As Members of Congress concerned with ensuring that our public schools and libraries provide resources for all students and community members, we are writing to make you aware of troubling implementation of online content filtering policies for students and citizens of all ages within public schools and libraries that receive E-rate funding, and to urge you to take action to ensure access to important Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) resources for library patrons and high school students.
“A 2014 report by the LGBT Technology Partnership & Institute ‘Vision for Inclusion: An LGBT Broadband Future’ concluded that LGBT people are dependent on the Internet to meet a range of individual and social needs, which also makes them especially vulnerable to discriminatory Internet policies enacted by schools and libraries.
“In an age when high-speed broadband is transforming almost every aspect of our lives, we must ensure online access to every adult and child.
“We encourage you to consider this problem in the course of this proceeding and adopt a solution to end this practice.”
