Information Technology Reference
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up to each person's judgment. Different people could reach opposite conclusions about
whether enacting CIPA is the right thing for the US government to do.
SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY EVALUATION
In social contract theory, morally binding rules are those rules mutually agreed to in
order to allow social living [61]. Freedom of thought and expression is prized. According
to John Rawls, “liberty of conscience is to be limited only when there is a reasonable
expectation that not doing so will damage the public order which the government should
maintain” [62].
It would be difficult to gain consensus around the idea that the private viewing of
pornography makes social living no longer possible. For this reason, the private use of
pornography is considered to be outside the social contract and nobody else's business.
However, when we think about the availability of pornography in public libraries, the
issue gets thornier.
Some argue that allowing people to view pornography in a public place demeans
women, denying them dignity as equal persons [63]. On the other hand, we know that
filtering software is imperfect. In the past it has been used to promote a conservative
political agenda by blocking sites associated with other viewpoints [64, 65]. Hence it
reduces the free exchange of ideas, limiting the freedoms of thought and expression.
For some adults, public libraries represent their only opportunity to access the Web
for no cost. In order to be treated as free and equal citizens, they should have the
same Web access as people who have Internet access from their homes. If Web filters
are in place, their access is not equal because they must ask for permission to have
the filters disabled. Finally, while most people would agree that children should not be
exposed to pornographic material, it would be harder to convince reasonable people that
social living would no longer be possible if children happened to see pornography in a
library.
Our analysis from the point of view of social contract theory has produced argu-
ments both supporting and opposing the Children's Internet Protection Act. However,
installing filters does not seem to be necessary to preserve the public order. For this rea-
son, the issue is outside the social contract and freedom of conscience should be given
precedence.
Sexting
refers to sending sexually suggestive text messages or emails containing nude or
nearly nude photographs [66]. In a 2009 survey of 655 American teenagers conducted
by Cox Communications, 9 percent said they had sent a sext at least once, 17 percent
said they had received a sext at least once, and 3 percent said they had forwarded a sext
at least once. Of the teens who had sent sexts, 11 percent admitted to having sent a sext
to someone they didn't know. Interestingly, when those who had sent sexts were asked if
a photo they had sent was ever forwarded to someone they didn't want to see it, only 2
percent said yes, but when the same group of people was asked if their friends ever had
photos forwarded to people they didn't want to see them, 30 percent answered yes [66].
