Over 18? Click to Enter

Sexually explicit material is protected under the US Constitution. It is also legal to meet up with a stranger met online as long as both of the participants are over 18. It’s also legal for websites to facilitate these meetings. It’s illegal for minors to use these websites but most websites do not have the proper regulations that ensure that minors are not subscribing to these websites. Now some of these websites are being used by human traffickers and their victims to find new “employees” and “clients” and nothing is really being done to stop them.

Most sites have a “click to enter if you’re over 18” and “I am under 18” option that they greet their users with. Other sites require a birthdate to be entered, but with simple math a 14 year old can turn into 21 year old with 1 click.

An Age Verification System (AVS or “Age Gate”) exists which is only used by a select few of these websites. The AVS requires users to enter a credit card number in order to verify their age. While the idea seems like it would work, a few cracks exist in the system that make websites and users weary of using it. Firstly, it’s easy for a child to take a credit card from their parents and secondly, some websites have been known to use this system to gain access to people’s personal information and then commit fraud or to send excessive advertisements to the users. Another system, eGuardian does not require credit cards, but the company passes the information received to their partners who then use the information to advertise unhealthy foods. Parents are then left to decide whether they want to protect their child from potential predators online, or whether they want to protect their child from childhood obesity which can also cause many problems for the child.

Not only are children being exploited through some of these sites, but these sites also serve as a way for pimps to recruit new girls and johns. Craigslist use to feature an adult in which people could post ads for “adult services”. The site was not supposed to support prostitution or human trafficking in any way but a woman who calls herself MC claimed otherwise:

"All day, other girls and I sat with our laptops, posting pictures and answering ads on Craigslist. I am 17 now, and my childhood memories aren't of my family, going to middle school, or dancing at the prom. They are of making my own arrangements on Craigslist to be sold for sex, and answering as many ads as possible for fear of beatings and ice water baths" 

Craigslist has shut down their adult section, but many other sites like craigslist exist. “Backpage.com” operates under the same principle and with one scroll through the site one will find many photographs and price lists. While none of the ads explicitly say that they are offering sexual intercourse for a price, ads like “I Will Make Your Eyes Roll Back And Your Toes Curl!! 80$ SpEcI@L”* almost undoubtedly infer prostitution.

It’s not only adult sites that put children at risk, but also social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. A report done by Rochester Institute of Technology indicates that 11% of 2nd and 3rd graders were asked to disclose private things about their body. The statistics only get higher as the child gets older. Some predators create fake accounts to lure their victims in and some will have their actual name posted and use child grooming to lure the child in.

It’s complicated to implement a policy that doesn’t infringe the freedoms of speech and expression but it was almost done in 1998. In 1998, the Child Online Protection Act was passed. The law was however too loosely worded and also too stressful on other internet users and was later dismissed. The bill was passed which means there is hope. Perhaps if a similar bill were to be developed which had less ambiguities and hassles for other internet users, children could be safer from internet predators.