Gwinnett schools under fire for blocking some websites

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An internet filter used by Gwinnett County schools has drawn the attention of civil liberties lawyers.

Gwinnett recently began blocking school computers' access to websites that contain content about sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. The group sent a threatening letter to the school superintendent two weeks ago that said such filtering was illegal.

"If you continue to censor these websites, you could be subject to legal liability and the expense of litigation," said the letter, signed by ACLU legal director Chara Jackson.

The ACLU gave Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks until last week to respond. He still hadn't replied as of Monday, Jackson told the AJC.

A school system spokeswoman said officials were looking into the concerns raised by the ACLU and that the filter was installed according to the guidelines of the Children's Internet Protection Act -- a federal law that addresses concerns about access to offensive Internet content over school computers.

Students or employees can request access to some filtered sites, said the spokeswoman, Sloan Roach.

Roach said the school system had employed a private company's filtering system for years. The filter prevents access to a variety of websites, including pornographic sites, she said. But she said she didn't know how widely the filtering net was cast.

"I don't know the extent that there are categories or certain words that the filter picks up on," Roach said.

The ACLU got involved after a Brookwood High School senior contacted the group. She complained to them about lost access to websites she used to plan activities for the school's gay-straight alliance club.

Jackson, the ACLU lawyer, said the use of a filter that blocks access to websites about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues "doesn't serve a legitimate purpose." She said the filter violates both the First Amendment and the Equal Access Act, which requires that extracurricular clubs be given equal access to school resources.