Recognizing and Resisting Censorship in Online Safety Bills: A Framework for Libraries

This paper explores historical and contemporary efforts to regulate internet content under the rationale of keeping kids safe online, with a particular focus on the implications for libraries and intellectual freedom. Using the Children’s Internet Protection Act as a historical example, the paper demonstrates how filtering mandates have resulted in the overblocking of constitutionally protected speech. Resistance to CIPA, spearheaded by the American Library Association, highlights the dangers of using vague and expansive terms like “harmful to minors” to justify censorship by government enforcers. Decades later, federal and state laws raise similar concerns about advancing censorship agendas under the pretext of protecting children online. The paper concludes with a framework for librarians to evaluate legislation for potential threats to intellectual freedom and advocate for balanced approaches to online safety that preserve access to information. The framework is based on questions that the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) asks when analyzing legislation.