Our
view
Child
modeling under scrutiny
Web pages depicting preteen girls posing
provocatively in skimpy bathing suits and
other sexually suggestive attire are easily
and legally accessed for a membership fee.
These Web sites, though suggestive, remain
legal due to the fact that no nudity or
sex is portrayed. However, a bill now before
the House Judiciary Committee, intends to
change that.
The Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention
Act of 2002 states that “whoever displays
… the image of a child who has not attained
the age of 17 years, with the intent to
make a financial gain thereby … without
a purpose of marketing a product or service
other than an image of a child model, shall
be fined … or imprisoned not more than 10
years, or both.”
The bill is intended to cut pedophiles off
from the sites that allow them to legally
satisfy their urges. However, the Child
Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act is
so broadly written that it could possibly
make regular, non-sexual, everyday videos
and photography of children and teen-agers
illegal.
According to an article on the Wired News
Web site written by Declan McCullagh, “In
addition to prohibiting photography of anyone
under 17 years old, their bill would make
it a federal felony for stock photo houses
… to license images of minors from their
catalogs … or for news photographers to
sell images of minors.”
It is evident that the bill written as it
is presents an unconstitutional violation
of freedom of expression.
The usage of words like “exploitative” in
the language of the bill only adds to the
confusion of what is really covered within
its context. Who will get to decide what
is exploitative and what is not? The author
of the bill does not offer a clear definition
of what he believes “exploitative” encompasses.
Some of the Web sites that originally sparked
the idea for the bill are disgusting and
disturbing in their sexualized portrayal
of young girls. However, the Child Modeling
Exploitation Prevention Act of 2002 is so
broad that it would not only halt the production
of these sites, but it would also halt the
production of child modeling agency sites
— sites that provide images of children
for television commercials, shows and magazines.
We do need something to protect the exploitation
of minors but the Child Modeling Exploitation
Prevention Act would do more to harm freedom
of expression than it is worth.
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