H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
H.R. 5319, THE DELETING ONLINE PREDATORS ACT OF 2006 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 11, 2006 Serial No. 109-121 Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 30-410PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001 COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE JOE BARTON, Texas, Chairman RALPH M. HALL, Texas JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida Ranking Member Vice Chairman HENRY A. WAXMAN, California FRED UPTON, Michigan EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts CLIFF STEARNS, Florida RICK BOUCHER, Virginia PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York NATHAN DEAL, Georgia FRANK PALLONE, JR., New Jersey ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky SHERROD BROWN, Ohio CHARLIE NORWOOD, Georgia BART GORDON, Tennessee BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois ANNA G. ESHOO, California HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico BART STUPAK, Michigan JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York CHARLES W. “CHIP” PICKERING, Mississippi ALBERT R. WYNN, Maryland Vice Chairman GENE GREEN, Texas VITO FOSSELLA, New York TED STRICKLAND, Ohio ROY BLUNT, Missouri DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado STEVE BUYER, Indiana LOIS CAPPS, California GEORGE RADANOVICH, California MIKE DOYLE, Pennsylvania CHARLES F. BASS, New Hampshire TOM ALLEN, Maine JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania JIM DAVIS, Florida MARY BONO, California JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois GREG WALDEN, Oregon HILDA L. SOLIS, California LEE TERRY, Nebraska CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas MIKE FERGUSON, New Jersey JAY INSLEE, Washington MIKE ROGERS, Michigan TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin C.L. “BUTCH” OTTER, Idaho MIKE ROSS, Arkansas SUE MYRICK, North Carolina JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma TIM MURPHY, Pennsylvania MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee BUD ALBRIGHT, Staff Director DAVID CAVICKE, General Counsel REID P. F. STUNTZ, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET FRED UPTON, Michigan, Chairman MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts CLIFF STEARNS, Florida Ranking Member PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky ALBERT R. WYNN, Maryland BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming MIKE DOYLE, Pennsylvania JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico JAY INSLEE, Washington CHARLES W. “CHIP” PICKERING, Mississippi RICK BOUCHER, Virginia VITO FOSSELLA, New York EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York GEORGE RADANOVICH, California FRANK PALLONE, JR., New Jersey CHARLES F. BASS, New Hampshire SHERROD BROWN, Ohio GREG WALDEN, Oregon BART GORDON, Tennessee LEE TERRY, Nebraska BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois MIKE FERGUSON, New Jersey ANNA G. ESHOO, California JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma BART STUPAK, Michigan MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan JOE BARTON, Texas (EX OFFICIO) (EX OFFICIO) (II) CONTENTS Page Testimony of: Abbott, Hon. Greg, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, State of Texas... 25 Aftab, Esq., Parry, Executive Director, WiredSafety.org................................................... 31 Collins, Michelle, Director, Exploited Child Unit, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children ......................................................................................................... 90 Davis, Ted, Director, Knowledge Asset Management, IT Department, Fairfax County Public Schools................................................................................................................ 95 Kelly, Chris, Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Privacy Officer, Facebook ........................................................................................................................ 104 Lenhart, Amanda, Senior Research Specialist, Pew Internet and American Life Project . 111 Yoke, Beth, Executive Director, ALA Young Adult Library Services Association.......... 127 Zellis, David W., First Assistant District Attorney, Office of the Bucks County District Attorney, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania................................................................... 135 Additional material submitted for the record: Racine, Elizabeht, prepared statement of............................................................................ 154 Resnick, Michael A., Associate Executive Director, National School Boards Association, prepared statement of ................................................................................ 158 (III) H.R. 5319, THE DELETING ONLINE PREDATORS ACT OF 2006 TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2006 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:10 a.m., in Room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Fred Upton [Chairman] presiding. Members present: Representatives Upton, Gillmor, Whitfield, Cubin, Shimkus, Wilson, Bass, Walden, Terry, Ferguson, Blackburn, Barton [ex officio], Markey, Engel, Wynn, Gonzalez, Inslee, Eshoo, and Stupak. Also Present: Representatives Fitzpatrick and Kirk. Staff Present: Howard Waltzman, Chief Counsel for Telecommunications and Internet; Anh Nguyen, Legislative Clerk; Jaylyn Jensen, Senior Legislative Analyst; Johanna Shelton, Minority Counsel; and David Vogel, Minority Research Assistant. MR. UPTON. Morning, everyone. Today we are holding a hearing on H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006, which was introduced recently by Representatives Fitzpatrick and Kirk. Under the leadership of Chairman Whitfield and Chairman Barton, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee has held multiple hearings, exposing the appalling sexual exploitation of children on the Internet. This includes the dark underside of social networking websites, which have become stalking grounds for sexual predators who are preying on children all across the Nation. We have had many such cases in my own State of Michigan, far too many. Federal law enforcement officials have described the sexual abuse and exploitation of our Nation’s youth as an “epidemic” propagated by the unlimited access of the Internet. The statistics are alarming. The FBI has seen a 2,026 percent increase in its caseload of online sexual predators in the last 10 years. Of the estimated 24 million child Internet users, one in five kids has received unwanted sexual solicitations. It is estimated that at any given moment, 50,000 predators are prowling for children online, many of whom are lurking within social networks. At a minimum, what our hearings have taught us is that both children and parents need to become better educated about the dangers of social (1) 2 networking websites, and parents need to police their children’s online use at home to guard against sexual predators. However, to the extent that children are using the Internet outside the home, particularly at school or at the public library, parents are not able to monitor their children’s online use, and that is a situation that H.R. 5319 is designed to address. At its heart, H.R. 5319 would require schools and libraries which receive E-rate funding to restrict minors’ access to commercial social networking websites through which such minors may easily be subject to unlawful sexual advances, unlawful requests for sexual favors, or repeated offensive comments of a sexual nature from adults. The approach taken by H.R. 5319 is not dissimilar to the approach taken by the Children’s Internet Protection Act, through which Congress requires schools and libraries that receive E-rate funding to impose filtering technology to protect kids from online visual depictions of an inappropriate sexual nature. I have long supported and remain a strong supporter of the E-rate. I visit a school every week and I have seen the tremendous educational value which the Internet has brought to students throughout my congressional district, and I recognize the importance of the E-rate in making this a reality. However, as with all technologies, the Internet is a double-edged sword, and Congress has a responsibility to ensure that, to the extent that a Federal program is involved, it is doing all that it can to ensure that kids are protected from online dangers. H.R. 5319 represents yet another step in making our children’s online experience at school or at the library safe. I want to thank our witnesses for being with us today, and I look forward to hearing their views on H.R. 5319, and I yield to the gentlelady from California for an opening statement. [Prepared statement of Hon. Fred Upton follows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HON. FRED UPTON, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET Good morning. Today we are holding a legislative hearing on H.R. 5319, the “Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006,” which was introduced by Representatives Fitzpatrick and Kirk. Under the leadership of Chairman Whitfield and Chairman Barton, the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee has held multiple hearings exposing the appalling sexual exploitation of children on the internet. This includes the dark underside of social networking websites, which have become stalking grounds for sexual predators who are preying on children all across the nation. We have had