San Jose Library’s Filter Report Not Enough for City Councilor

San Jose Library’s Filter Report Not Enough for City Councilor

In spite of the San Jose (Calif.) Public Library’s detailed report on the ineffectiveness of software filtering, City Councilor Pete Constant insisted at a May 14 council meeting that the library take some measures to restrict pornography on its public computers. Constant had requested last October 18 that the library reconsider its no-filter policy in the light of a local TV news report that purported to document instances of patrons viewing pornography at library computer terminals.

However, the library is a joint-use facility with San Jose State University, whose administration is opposed to web filtering of any type. The San Jose Mercury News reported May 15 that SJSU President Don Kassing said in a letter to the city that installing filters would “violate the spirit of our joint operating agreement by restricting intellectual freedom.”

SJPL’s April 2 “Internet Filtering Software Tests” report concluded that each filter it tested “blocked a wide range of constitutionally protected content in its attempt to block other content” and was “ill-equipped” to deal with images on search engine result pages, e-mail attachments, RSS feeds, and non-English content.

In her May 7 recommendation to city council, SJPL Director Jane Light offered some policy options with price tags attached and asked the council to “weigh its concern for access to information with its concern to protect children from some Internet content.”

City Attorney Rick Doyle advised against filtering every computer and having staff unblock them on request because it could expose the city to First Amendment lawsuits.

Constant questioned the staff’s methodology in the filtering tests, saying that the WebSense filter does not have the problems the report cited. According to the Mercury News, he is planning a public demonstration in coming weeks to prove his point.

Posted on May 16, 2008. Discuss.