Should Virtual Child Pornography Be Banned?

975 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Child pornography and the internet

In today’s society, people are debating if “virtual” child pornography should be banned. Most people believe that it should, while others believe that it should not be banned at all. Since the Supreme Court decided that “virtual” child pornography is legal, most people have felt that they have made a horrible mistake. By check many articles on this topic, I have decided to use two fairly good articles, written by two well-known editors, Wendy Kaminer, editor at The Atlantic Monthly, and Paul Rodriguez, editor of Insight on the News. Even though I agree that “virtual” child pornography should be banned, Kaminer presented a stronger argument that “virtual” child pornography should not be banned.

The article, “Virtual Child Pornography Should Not Be Banned,” by Wendy Kaminer, argues that “virtual” child pornography should not be banned because no child is harm. Kaminer serves on the national board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Kaminer claims since no “real” child is being harm in the production, it should not be banned.

Kaminer start her argument by saying that it is possible that “virtual” child pornography may encourage pedophiles to act on their impulses or may help them in seducing children, but there is no evidence proving that these images have that want effects. She relied her sources on stating what the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA)prohibited and what she believe they fail to realize and considered when making the Act of 1996. She also made points on how movies and ads are involved in “virtual” child pornography.

Kaminer argument was good, it was not that strong for me to think on it but she did point out good examples such as: how forty-year old mistake fifteen years old for young adults, which ...

... middle of paper ...

...e than emotions when supporting her argument. As one articles tried with evidence and the other with emotions to support their argument, they both lack stronger evidence and did not catch the reader attention that well. There are still more articles to examining on the subject but in the end, I felt Kaminer gave a stronger argument with more evidence and support then Rodriguez.

Works Cited
Rodriguez, Paul M. “Virtual Child Pornography Should Be Banned,” Understanding and

Engaging Humanity. Ed. Brad McAdon, Mary E. Williams, Auriana Ojeda, and Williams

Dudley. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press 2010, 203-208

Kaminer, Kaminer. “Virtual Child Pornography Should Not Be Banned,” Understanding and

Engaging Humanity. Ed. Brad McAdon, Mary E. Williams, Auriana Ojeda, and Williams

Dudley. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press 2010, 209-213

Show More
Related

  • Stephanie Hanes Little Girls Or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect

    1729 Words  | 4 Pages

    Today, “60 percent of children who use the Internet regularly come into contact with pornography” (Hanes 1). In Stephanie Hanes’ article, “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect”, she provides undeniable evidence to suggest that the culture of today’s world causes sexualization of children, specifically of females, at an alarmingly young age. This sexualization has become increasingly invasive in the past decade, so much so that parents, educators, and even more recently politicians have decided to try to counteract some these negative effects. In this article, Stephanie Hanes uses strong research with logical arguments that support this

    Read More

  • Internet Pornography, the ACLU, and Congress

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ashcroft vs. ACLU, 00-1293, deals with a challenge to the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which Congress passed in 1998. The law, which is the subject of this essay, attempts to protect minors from exposure to Internet pornography by requiring that commercial adult websites containing "indecent" material that is "harmful to minors" use age-verification mechanisms such as credit cards or adult identification numbers.(Child)

    Read More

  • Child Pornography: Child Sexual Exploitation

    236 Words  | 1 Pages

    The internet provides ground for individuals to create, access, and share child sexual abuse images world wide at the click of abutton. Child pornography images are readily available through virtually every Internet technology including website, email, instant messaging.

    Read More

  • Sexting Law Reform

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s American society, almost everyone, even children as young as six, owns a cell phone with a camera. Although convenient, camera phones also open the door to massive problems concerning child pornography that stem from sexting, or sending nude or lascivious photos. According to a 2010 Federal Bureau of Investigation survey1 of 4,400 middle and high school students, “approximately eight percent of students reported that they had sent a sext of themselves to others while thirteen percent said they had received a sext.” The main problem with sexting, aside from being child pornography if it is a picture of minor, is the ease of dissemination of the sext to other contacts or even the Internet. The United States alone has seen several students commit suicide after a sext intended for one person’s eyes goes viral or is sent to the entire high school. Such was the case of Ohio high school student, Jesse Logan, who sent nude photos to her boyfriend who then sent them to other students who harassed her until she committed suicide.2

    Read More

  • Obscenity Vs Pornography

    626 Words  | 2 Pages

    On to the question at hand, the Child Pornography Act (CPPA) of 1996 was written to protect children from sexual exploitatio...

    Read More

  • The Controversy Over Internet Pornography

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    When the car industry comes to mind, you think of Detroit. When oranges come to mind, you think of Florida. When pornography comes to mind, you think of the Internet. Almost everything in today’s society has its place, and the place for the pornography industry is the Internet. Being almost inevitable, pornography has become part of everyone’s Internet experience. Whether its junk e-mail or a nasty pop-up for $3.99 a month subscriptions, its hard to say that there isn’t anyone out there who hasn’t been exposed to Internet pornography in one way or another. One reason for this is the overwhelming size the pornography industry has grown to become. For some, the easy access to the industry has allowed for millions of dollars to be made. For others, this has caused serious problems. Parents who have children know what troubles Internet pornography can bring. Not only do actual pictures and services provide a venue for profits to be made, but software preventing the easy access has became more popular as well.

    Read More

  • Censorship Of Pornography

    2262 Words  | 5 Pages

    Pornography is considered by many to be an unwelcome and distasteful part of our society. However, I argue that it is necessary to voice the unpopular viewpoints, under the Constitution. This paper is a defense of pornography as a constitutional right of free expression, under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. In illustrating this argument, I will first define pornography as a concept, and then address central arguments in favor of pornography remaining legal and relatively unregulated – such as the development of the pornography debate throughout modern US law, and how activist groups address the censorship of adult entertainment.

    Read More

  • Freedom of Speech and Violent Video Games

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ment: A Historical Timeline Of Children And Their Access To Pornography And Violence." Pace Law Review 33.1 (2013): 462-489. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 18 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • Let’s Put Pornography Back in the Closet

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    In addition, she contradicts her own stance on the position when she mentions that previous literature containing sexually explicit content should not be censored (Brownmiller 59). Brownmiller paints a very strong, emotional, and offensive picture when she claims that women are, “being stripped, bound, raped, tortured, mutilated, and murdered in the name of commercial entertainment” (59). However, this statement is fallacious and does not provide any factual evidence. Furthermore, she makes the hasty generalization that pornography can make people think that certain things, such as rape, are acceptable (Brownmiller 59). Once again, her claim lacks support and relies solely on a faulty pathos appeal.

    Read More

  • Pornography Should be Regulated

    2299 Words  | 5 Pages

    When deliberating over whether access to pornography should be prohibited, four areas of contention must be elaborated upon and evaluated critically to provide a sensible basis on which a judgement can be made. Firstly, it must be concluded whether pornography can be classed as a form of speech, and whether it enjoys the same protections as art and literature under the principle. Secondly, works such as those of Catherine MacKinnon can be drawn upon to offer a feminist perspective of the effects of pornography on the treatment of women within modern democratic society. Moreover, the principles of Devlin and Feinberg offer relevant acumen regarding the criminalisation of pornographic media. Overall, this essay will argue that whilst access to pornography should not be entirely prohibited; publications that depict ‘extreme’ situations should be subject to regulation and restriction.

    Read More

  • America Must Censor Internet Pornography

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since their founding, computers and the Internet have become a tool that nearly every man, woman, and child in the World have been able to use. E-mail has become one of the Worlds fastest growing ways of communication and the Internet has become one, if not the largest source of information available today. You can find just about everything you wanted to know about anything with the stroke of a few keys on the keyboard. However, along with these positive aspects of the Internet, there lies much negativity surrounding the internet and its use. Access to teenage pornography, bestiality, brutal murder pictures, XXX stories, and other un-ethical sites is extremely easy. In fact, the pornography industry has grown 63% since the Internet was first available for use.(Bishop 91) It is one of the leading industries on the Internet and has become quite a controversy in the United States. Censorship of such sites has done very little due to the fact that most parents feel that these sites are not accessed by their children. We have currently found no solution that has worked and many government officials see the problem only getting worse. Pornography on the Internet though should not be banned, but rather better controlled and censored due to its availability and graphic nature.

    Read More

  • Easy Access For Children on Pornography Sites

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...pornography with such ease, parents are going to have to figure out a way to keep their children off these sites. The only other option is coming home and finding them looking at something they shouldn't. Because some children, given the opportunity, are going to seek out these sites, even if you ask them not to. After all, children will be children.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Online Media on Adolescents

    1470 Words  | 3 Pages

    This world has become immersed in online media from socializing on networking sites to seeking information on search engines. People of all ages have become reliant on online media, but the most engaged users are the younger, more easily impacted generations. Although there are many positive uses for online media, there are many negative uses as well. Unfortunately, it is all too easy for these negative effects to impede upon the perceptions of adolescents. Some countries have been trying to reduce this effect by expelling the inappropriate content of online media ("Influence on Children Media...”). However, in the United States, children are thrown in the waves, expected to stay afloat in this massive sea, but many are being dragged under the surface by the nefarious temptations media creates. Content that is not appropriate for the young, growing minds of children are easily accessible; a myriad of devices may be used to access this material, all at the click of a button. Without adult content filters on online media, adolescents of various ages are exposed to dangerous conceptions. A world of pornography, violence, and public humiliation lay in the user’s fingertips.

    Read More

  • Is Censorship Justified?

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    She also found that pornography leads men and women to experience conflict, suffering, and sexual dissatisfaction. http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/porno.html) Hence, censorship is essential in order to maintain peace and stability in the society. It will decrease the crime rate. Children can be exposed to sexual matters in school in a different manner than in education. Excessive amounts of sexually explicit material would surely be harmful.

    Read More

  • The Fight Against Child Pornography

    2328 Words  | 5 Pages

    In recent years, pornography has established itself as perhaps the most controversial topic arising out of the use of the Internet. The easy availability of this type of sexually explicit material has caused a panic among government officials, family groups, religious groups and law enforcement bodies and this panic has been perpetuated in the media.

    Read More

More about Should Virtual Child Pornography Be Banned?

Open Document