Accomplishments (1994-2005)
In 1994, EIE established itself as one of the nation's first leadership organizations exclusively committed to Internet child safety. Since then, EIE has made significant strides in building upon its mission to promote safety on the Internet. EIE follows a three-pronged, preventative strategy to create and sustain a safe and informative Internet environment for children, including (1) raising public awareness of Internet dangers, (2) advising the technology industry with ways to help reduce pornography and predation, and (3) promoting legal solutions.
Following are highlights of EIE's accomplishments under each of the above-mentioned prongs.
Public Awareness and Empowerment
EIE has given more than 4,000 media interviews on issues surrounding Internet safety, computer pornography and online sexual predators, both nationally and internationally. Below is a partial list of the media interviews given by EIE:
TELEVISION
| 20/20 with Barbara Walters ABC Nightly News BBC Big Story Primetime CBS Evening News with Dan Rather CNBC CNN Crossfire CSPAN Dateline NBC Fox News Good Morning America Entertainment Tonight |
Hardball with Chris Matthews |
NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, AND WIRE SERVICES
| Associated Press Boston Globe Boston Herald Chicago Tribune Denver Post Fort Worth Star Telegram Gannett News Service Iparenting.com L.A. Times Light and Life Magazine McCall's Magazine Miami Herald New York Times Newhouse News Service |
PC World Philadelphia Inquirer Real Simple Magazine Reuters San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury News Smart Computing Magazine Time Magazine Today's Christian Woman U.S. News & World Report USA Today Washington Post Washington Times World Net Daily |
Internet Safety Seminars
EIE continues a long-standing public education service to communities across the country through speaking venues. Internet Safety Seminars conducted since 2002 include:
Educational/Professional Forums
- Crested Butte Community School, Crested Butte, CO, 2005
- World Hope International Board Dinner, Arlington, VA, 2005
- The Haverford School, Haverford, PA, 2003
- The Media Institute, Washington, DC, 2003
- The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, National Press Club, Washington DC, 2002
Government, Legal and Law Enforcement Forums
- The White House, 2005
- Department of Justice Obscenity Symposium, 2002
- University of Houston Law School, 2002
- Congressional Internet Caucus, 2002
- The Freedom Forum: Internet and the First Amendment, 1999
- United States Senate Russell Caucus room--EIE launched the National Internet Safety Awareness Campaign, introducing for the first time the issue on Internet porn and predators to Congress, media and leaders, 1995
Faith-Based Forums
- St. Rita Catholic Church, Alexandria, LA, 2005
- The President's National Prayer Breakfast, Women's Gathering, Washington, DC, 2005
- South Carolina Baptist Convention: Virtuous Reality Ethics Conference, Charleston, SC, 2004
- Salvation Army National Social Services "Equip for Success" Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, 2004
- McLean Bible Church, McLean, VA, 2004
- Salvation Army Eastern Territorial Headquarters Leadership Conference, West Nyack, NY, 2004
- Glory Tabernacle's Extraordinary Women's Christmas Tea, Washington, DC, 2003
- Second Baptist Church, Houston, TX, 2003
- Salvation Army: National Women's Convention, Arlington, VA, 2003
- Salvation Army: National Moral and Ethical Committee, Arlington, VA, 2003
- The Call LA: A Call to the Nation's Youth, The Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California, 2003
- Developed two free television public service announcements (PSAs) with major television networks.
- Co-sponsored a comparative analysis of child pornography for the World Congress on the Sexual Exploitation of Children in Sweden in October, 1996.
- Participated in the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, and successfully negotiated language highlighting pornography as violence against women in the "Platform for Action."
*Helped launch WebWise Kids to teach children how to make their online experience safe through the use of Missing, a fun and educational CD-ROM computer detective game. Enough Is Enough® is the parent organization of Web Wise Kids.
Technology Industry
Enough Is Enough® works closely with the technology community to develop and implement new and viable solutions to diminish the threat of illegal pornography and sexual predators on the Internet. Since 2002, EIE has helped the industry in the following ways:
- Provide advice to social networking sites regarding Internet safety and industry best practices.
- Developed 'best practices' and safety standards for social networking sites through its partnership with the National Cyber Security Alliance.
- Provided leadership and direction for the June 2006 National Social Network Dialogue hosted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and MySpace.com.
- Provided America Online with advice and direction on ways to better protect children on AOL.com. A number of these measures have been incorporated in the current version of AOL.
- Played a key role in the "Internet Online Summit: Focus on Children," including bringing in numerous child advocacy organizations, and participating in planning meetings on all levels to ensure the message of protecting children from Internet pornography was kept. Obtained a "Zero Tolerance of Child Pornography Policy" pledge from leaders of the technology industry.
- Renewed support and commitment for the Internet Service Providers (ISP) Code of Ethical Conduct.
Legal Community
EIE supports important legislation that targets the illegal activities of the growing cybersex industry and promotes strict enforcement of existing laws with harsh sentences for pornographers and pedophiles. Since 2002, EIE has given Congressional testimony and provided other counsel in support of key legislation and regulation. EIE also works closely with the U.S. Department of Justice and is partnered with them through *The National Internet Safety Awareness and Parental Empowerment Program.*
Congressional Testimonies
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
Washington, D.C. October 15, 2003
Provided written testimony on the prosecution of illegal pornography
Congressional Internet Caucus
Washington, D.C. May 23, 2002
Panel discussion titled "Controlling Online Pornography: Options for Parents and Families."
Congressional Hearing
The Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Washington, DC, November 1, 2001
"The Dot Kids Domain Name Act of 2001"
http://www.protectkids.com/donnaricehughes/powerpoints/DotKidsDomainNameAct.ppt
Senate Hearing
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families
Washington, DC, March 28, 2000
Speech: "Keeping Children Safe from Internet Predators"
http://www.protectkids.com/donnaricehughes/powerpoints/SenateHearing2000.ppt
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on 'Cyberporn'
Testimony from July 24, 1995
http://www.cdt.org/speech/cda/950724jepsen.html
Federal Legislation
Communications Decency Act (CDA) - 1996
Played a key educational role to Congress by testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the need for legislation to protect children from pornography and pedophiles on the Internet. Effectively communicated the message that materials and activities already outlawed in every other avenue of delivery should not be accessible to children on the Internet. The CDA included the child-stalking provision, which is the law used to prosecute online sexual predators. The federal obscenity statutes were also extended to apply to the Internet.
The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) - 2000
The U.S. Supreme Court, in June of 2003, reversed a lower court decision and upheld CIPA. CIPA requires public libraries that receive government E-rate funding for Internet access to utilize filtering technology to block a minor child's access to pornography and obscenity. In 1998, EIE staff briefed Senator John McCain and other members of Congress on the early problems of child access to pornography in public libraries and served as a key catalyst in the effort to get CIPA passed and upheld. In 2000, Congress passed CIPA; it was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, upon which the ACLU and the ALA filed lawsuits, and the law was enjoined for three years. The Supreme Court decision is a landmark victory in child Internet safety protection and a law that EIE was instrumental in getting passed and supported throughout the years.
The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) - 1998
COPA passed in 1998, with the leadership and support of EIE staff, which included numerous briefings and advocacy efforts in the House and Senate. COPA mandates that commercial web pornographers based in the U.S. require adult verification before allowing access to pornographic content. Since its passage, the law has been put on hold as the result of challenges by the ACLU and others. In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed COPA and sent it back to a lower court.
Donna Rice Hughes served for a year on the congressionally appointed COPA Commission, defended COPA at a press conference on the steps of the Supreme Court the day of the hearing, and continues to support COPA in the news media and in public debates while awaiting the outcome of the long court battle. In the meantime, during COPA's enjoinment, 9 in 10 children online continue to be exposed to free pornographic pictures.
Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) - 1996
EIE leadership testified before the U.S. Senate in support of CPPA. Once passed, the law was enjoined due to a lawsuit filed by the Free Speech Coalition. Since 1996, EIE has educated the public as to the need for this key legislation that criminalizes 'virtually' created child pornography. In April 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down CPPA. EIE continues to explore with Congress and the Department of Justice new legislation to effectively prosecute both real and virtual child pornography.
Dot Kids Domain Name Act of 2001
EIE leadership testified before Congress in support of the bill, in addition to working extensively with the House of Representatives in the writing of the legislation. The Dot Kids Domain Name Act was signed into law on December 4, 2002. EIE continues to provide expertise on the implementation of this new domain designed to give children a safe Internet haven.
OTHER
- White House Meetings 2002 - EIE leadership participated in two White House meetings with President George W. Bush, addressing the online dangers to children and the safety solutions needed to protect kids online.
- Department of Justice - EIE leadership maintains a strong working relationship with the Department of Justice leadership to encourage the aggressive enforcement of child pornography, child stalking and illegal obscenity.
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJDDP) -2003 - EIE leadership participated, along with a dozen national child advocacy leaders, in the Internet Safety Focus Group sponsored by the head of OJDDP.
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJDDP) -2005 - EIE and OJJDP formed a major partnership to expand EIE's ability to provide empowerment training and awareness to parents and other adult caregivers. The centerpiece of the partnership is the development of EIE's five-year National Internet Safety Awareness and Parental Empowerment Program .
- Supreme Court of the United States - EIE filed its own amicus curiae Brandeis brief before the Supreme Court in support of the Communications Decency Act. This is a historic first--the U.S. Supreme Court has never before heard a sociological brief addressing the harms of pornography.
Signatories to numerous amicus curiae briefs written by the National Law Center and filed with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting various pornography cases.
- Virginia Attorney General Task Force--2006 -- EIE President Donna Rice Hughes will serve as a member of the Youth Internet Safety Task Force at the invitation of Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell.
http://www.oag.state.va.us/KEY_ISSUES/FAMILY_INTERNET/index.html
- White House Meeting -- 2006 -- EIE President Donna Rice Hughes met with senior White House staffers addressing online Internet dangers to children and proposed safety solutions.