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- Newsgroups: alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk
- Path: sparky!uunet!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!eff!eff-gate!usenet
- From: MYGDALW@baylor.ccis.baylor.edu (William Mygdal)
- Subject: (none)
- Message-ID: <01GO2KO2RN849JD9MJ@BAYLOR.EDU>
- Originator: daemon@eff.org
- Sender: MYGDALW@baylor.ccis.baylor.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: eff.org
- Organization: EFF mail-news gateway
- Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 14:22:00 GMT
- Approved: usenet@eff.org
- Lines: 22
-
- Hi, I'm new on the list and relatively new to internet. I joined
- because, in my attempts to familiarize myself with the mailing lists
- and newsgroups, I discovered that Baylor (1) screens out all alt. and
- rec. groups and who knows what else - we have 1213 newsgroups listed, and (2)
- censors individual messages within newsgroups that are available. For
- example, in looking through the Jewish culture newsgroup I found that
- messages on the topic of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow were listed in the
- group, but when I tried to read one I got a message stating that that item
- could not be accessed. So of course I tried every other item on the topic,
- and was able to access only one - and that one consisted entirely of
- quotation from the Bible on the sin of slander. I can only assume, the
- Baylor environment being what it is, that sexual content or obscenity is
- being censored, along with who knows what else. I am not a student or
- faculty member (or employee) at Baylor, and have been thinking for myself
- for years. Thus, I am very upset and deeply offended by this censorship.
- I doubt there's anything I can do about it, but I am completely ignorant
- of the current state of thinking/practice/regulation of how computer
- communication does/should work, and the related issues of academic
- freedom and first amendment rights (neither of which Baylor has any
- interest in upholding). How common is this kind of censorship? What,
- if anything, can be done about it? What reactions or words of wisdom
- do those of you on this list have for me? Help!!! --Thanks, Debbie Ader
-