A US federal judge has overturned a law designed to protect children from viewing internet pornography, saying it violated the right of free speech. The law made it illegal for websites to provide children access to "harmful" material, but it was never enforced. Judge Lowell Reed of Philadelphia said other means of protection, such as software filters, were more effective.
Opponents criticised the ruling, saying parents should not have to shoulder the burden of restricting adult material. Judge Reed said that while he sympathised with the need to protect minors, the 1998 Child Online Protection Act was problematic. "I may not turn a blind eye to the law.
.. to protect this nation's youth by upholding a flawed statute, especially when a more effective and less restrictive alternative is readily available," he wrote.
The act was challenged by civil liberties groups and sexual health and other websites, including the online magazine salon.com, which claimed it was too restrictive and unconstitutional.
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