erotics

Controlling what users can and can’t see on computers using filtering software is standard in US libraries. APC questions the Denver Public Library on their filtering policy and practices in a fictional exchange that tackles very real questions of freedom of information.

Controlling — or filtering — what people can and can’t see online related to sex however well intentioned can have a profoundly negative impact. Censorship affects not only sexual expression but blocks access to sexual education and important movement-building tools for LGBTI activists.    

For years sexual rights activists in repressive societies have been using the internet as a means to communicate, organise and express their sexuality without fear of persecution. Thanks to EroTICs, this vibrant ecosystem of human connections is being studied for the first time.    

The EroTICs research team in Brazil studied the complex relationship between sexual minorities and internet policy. Their findings show that these groups were routinely ignored in debates surrounding internet regulation.

APC’s two-year research into sexuality and the internet reveals that contrary to popular opinion sexuality online is about much more than porn. As the EroTICs research is about to publish its complete findings next month, experts Clarissa Smith, Katharine Sarikakis and Pramada Menon critique.

“It was an eye-opener,” says privacy advocate Gus Hosein when he talks about the findings from APC’s exploratory research on sexuality and the internet in Brazil, India, Lebanon, South Africa, and USA. And it’s given him some good ammunition with which to field those annoying radio callers who question the need for privacy online.

APC’S EROTICS project conducted research on sexuality and the internet in five countries: Brazil, India, Lebanon, South Africa and the United States. This issue paper contains executive summaries for each country as well as an incisive introduction by EROTICS coordinator Jac sm Kee.    

Freedom of speech and its flipside, access to information, is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. However federally-funded libraries are required to prevent people under eighteen accessing “harmful” content. Kevicha Echols and Melissa Ditmore investigate the use of internet filters on public library computers and find that measures adopted by libraries range from insta...