by Byron Schirmbeck
Are you ready for a communist-style takeover of the Internet in Texas? Are you ready to ask permission from a government-approved panel to view websites they deem inappropriate?
A bill has been filed in the Texas House that is one of the most dangerous threats to free speech, privacy, and free markets in Texas history.
I wish I were making this up.
It sounds so unbelievable — I’m going to include quotes from the actual bill below so you know I’m not exaggerating.
H.B. 2266 was filed by Texas Representative James White (R-Woodville).
The bill claims to crack down on child pornography and human trafficking. But like so many other laws that sound good. . .
. . . it takes what we all want — an end to the ability to profit from human misery — and turns it into an overreaching, unnecessary restriction on law-abiding adults who have done nothing wrong.
You know “common sense” gun control is actually more about controlling lawful gun owners than stopping criminals from having guns. Likewise, H.B. 2266 is more about controlling all online content than protecting children and victims of human trafficking.
According to the text of H.B. 2266:
*** “Certain retailers” would be required “to ensure that certain products sold or leased by the retailers contain a digital blocking capability that renders obscene material inaccessible; creating a criminal offense.”
*** Retailers “may not sell or lease to a consumer a product that makes content accessible on the Internet unless the product contains an active and operating digital blocking capability that renders obscene material inaccessible.”
So the question is, what is considered obscene? And who gets to decide?
The Texas Internet Censorship bill requires retailers and manufacturers of Internet capable devices (cellphones, computers, tablets, etc.) to control the content of what Texans can access online.
It establishes a call center where people can report what they believe to be “obscene” websites. The retailer or manufacturer must decide if the material is obscene and then add the site to their filter. There are criminal and civil penalties for retailers and manufacturers for failure to block what Texans can view online.
H.B. 2266 turns businesses like Verizon, Dell Computers, and Best Buy into the “Obscenity Police.”
And failure to block something “obscene” will result in criminal charges!
How do you think these businesses will evaluate things like an online copy of 50 Shades of Gray or a Victoria’s Secret website? What about an online virtual tour of a museum with classical paintings containing figures with various amounts of skin showing? Or an “R”-rated movie?
Common sense says they’ll block harmless content to avoid being charged criminally.
So how does the bill define “obscene?”
According to H.B. 2266, “obscene” is defined by Section 43.21 of the Penal Code which was passed into law in the 1970’s before the Internet was even invented!
It would include any material that anyone in the community finds offensive, such as a play, a motion picture, a book, a magazine, or any other tangible thing.
Some of this code has been found to be unconstitutionally restrictive.
But that’s not stopping Representative James White from trying to impose subjective “decency” standards on the digital age in Texas.
Shouldn’t it be up to you to decide for yourself what legal websites you should have access to?
Aren’t horrific child pornography websites and human trafficking hubs already illegal? Parental guides and filters already exist so parents can protect their children from material they don’t want them to see.
I need you to help save the Internet in Texas.
If you and I do nothing, state Rep. James White’s Texas Internet Censorship bill will destroy free speech, privacy, and free markets. It will also create an undue burden on private businesses who sell electronics, by forcing them to become the Internet police.
Please contact Representative James White, and tell him to drop his Internet Censorship bill (H.B. 2266).
512-463-0490
[email protected]
Twitter
Facebook
Texas Campaign for Liberty has already reached out to Representative James White to explain how dangerous his bill is.
We asked him to pull his bill.
His response? “I am not going to pull a damn thing.”
So it will take a lot of pressure from you and me to make him turn away from his Big Government takeover of the Internet. When you are done telling Representative White to drop H.B. 2266, please contact your own state representative as well.
Demand they vote against H.B. 2266 — the Texas Internet Censorship bill — every chance they get!
You can find your Texas representative by clicking here.
Then, be sure to chip in a donation of $50, $30, or $10 to help Campaign for Liberty mobilize the grassroots to end this threat in Texas.
With your help, we can expose and end this terrible threat to your rights.
In Liberty,
Byron Schirmbeck
State Coordinator
Texas Campaign for Liberty
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P.S. Please contact Representative James White, and tell him to drop his Internet Censorship bill (H.B. 2266).
Clint Stutts says
The way the bill defines “retailers” is also problematic. It would require pawn shops and any other second-hand store that sells internet capable devices to make sure the filter technology is installed on every used device they sell.
Ross says
I wonder if Rep. White has a little problem with internet porn, and wants a law because he can’t stop himself from looking, or thinks he’s been appointed ultimate arbiter of what is allowable to view on the internet.
Ed Sarlls says
The only practical way for service providers to do this is not with code in the end user routers but by blocking IP addresses in the ISP managed routers. But it’s simple for users to bypass that with a VPN connection. So the bill increases costs for internet service, has potential for blocking otherwise useful sites, and does not prevent access to any of the material they desire to block.
Wrongheaded big brother nanny state thinking that is ultimately ineffective.
Howie Katz says
Woodville, population about 2,600, is in deep East Texas. That explains it.
Texpat says
Here is the page to track this absurd bill.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=HB2266
It’s been filed, but hasn’t even been assigned to a committee. Let’s hope it dies for lack of attention..
It’s a travesty this bill was filed at all, but the fact it was introduced by a black Republican is a compounding shame.
Jim in Houston says
The link is spectacularly unhelpful.
Fat Albert says
Is this moron for real? Does he think Texas exists in a vacuum? Does he a even a ghost of a clue about how technology works? If I buy a Computer from Dell and download and install a 3rd party software browser it completely bypasses his restrictions. Nothing in his bill will succeed in preventing what he purportedly wants to stop. But still. . . .
“. . .must be a yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please. Rules, laws – always for the other fellow. . . . not one of these people said ‘Please pass this so I won’t be able to do something I know I should stop’ . . . always something they hated to see neighbors doing. Stop them for their own good.” (Robert Heinlein)
Please note, I’m all for shooting child pornographers. In my opinion it is a crime worse than murder. But it’s time we started putting an end to legislators who pass bad, ineffective laws, just because it makes them feel like they’re “doing something”. They’re doing something all right – they’re proving they’re idiots.
Jim in Houston says
Is it really called the “Texas Internet Censorship Bill?” I checked the link given in one of the comments. There’s no there there. Just a Bill number, White’s name, and a topic reference – no title or description.
Foolme says
HAHAHAHAHA…All of the Big Jolly support of the nut jobs, liberals and left wingers, RINOS etc are coming back to bite…. servers you right. Now you blame these people when your support is what got them in office. Duh?