Debating the future of the Internet, several Supreme Court justices Wednesday questioned whether the government can restrict online access to sexually explicit material to keep it from children, the Associated Press reported.
The Clinton administration mounted a spirited defense of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which makes it a crime to put indecent words or pictures online where children can find them.
"The Internet threatens to give every child a free pass into the equivalent of every adult bookstore and every adult video store in the country," Justice Department attorney Seth Waxman told the court.
But the attorney for the parties who challenged the law said it also would keep indecent material away from adults who have a right to see it.
"The government cannot reduce the adult population to reading or viewing only what is appropriate for children," said Bruce Ennis, whose clients include the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.
A three-judge federal court in Philadelphia last year blocked the law from taking effect, saying it would unlawfully chill adults' free speech rights.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule by July in its first case involving the global computer network.
Several justices tried to decide what kind of communication to compare to the rapidly expanding Internet, which is thought to connect as many as 40 million people.Justice Sandra Day O'Connor suggested the Internet could be viewed as a public place, "much like a street corner or a park."
"The Internet is rather like the telephone," said Justice Stephen Breyer. The Internet law could "make large numbers of high school students across the country guilty of federal crimes" for having online conversations about their sexual experiences, he added.
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