Press Release and Letter to Editor, Essay Example

I am writing to you to voice my concern about Internet crime. Law enforcement agencies are able to actively enforce law on the streets to protect citizens, but there is no such protection in place online. My proposed legislation to place restrictions on Internet material comes from a concerned place as both a parent and an active member of society.  While I am a firm believer of First Amendment freedoms, I believe that we have a duty to recognize potential problems and to limit activity that could damage society. In the past, I have made my intent to protect families and society clear. Under a recent bill, I help foster parents who permanently adopt children with their college tuition costs. Furthermore, I have gone through great lengths to provide education subsidies to families. However, to ensure that the future of our country is fully protected, we must act fast to ensure that they are provided these same social and legal protection on the Internet as well.

I and my supporters therefore call for government censorship of all Internet material, with strict penalties given for any material that the government deems detrimental to society. I have been met with great criticism from Internet service providers on this front, but it is apparent that they care about finances more than the welfare of our children. Current information filters online are ineffective and our youth continue to access information that is harmful to their development, while adults are able to access information that they can use to cause these children harm. Currently, children are able to freely access information regarding terror and uncensored troubling images, and are likely to be swayed by the information they access. Furthermore, a lack of censoring allows children to access pornographic materials on the Internet, putting them at a greater risk for abuse by criminal adults. I introduced this legislation after hearing that information has circulated on the Internet about the procedure for building bombs. Therefore, this is a matter of physical security as well as intellectual.

Many young children are able to enter chatrooms online and when this occurs without parental supervision, it is possible that they are engaging with strangers who wish to do them harm. In the modern era, a majority of child abuse cases result from a minors intent to meet someone who had approached them in an online chatroom (Mitchell, 2005). These individuals will typically pretend to be the child’s own age so that they will agree to meet up. However, this individuals wish to do them harm.

It is imperative that we tighten Internet policing requirements so that everyone can have access to this wealth of information in a manner that promotes safety. Unfortunately, individuals who commit Internet crimes are often able to escape, and allowing them to do so is essentially promoting criminal behavior. We must therefore work diligently in order to ensure that our children will continue to be protected. I will not rest until I know that every child under my care is safe, and neither should the public.

References

Hines; Basso, J. (2011) The Writer’s Toolbox. Kendall/Hunt Publishing. ISBN-10: 0757517811

Mitchell KJ. (2005). Police Posing as Juveniles Online to Catch Sex Offenders: Is It Working? Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/jvq/CV82.pdf

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 2013/2014 edition. ISBN 978-0-917360-57-2