Computers will be the means of transmission for pornography in the next quarter-century … Most people don’t recognize that their child can take the home computer and dial up electronic bulletin boards that functionally have the equivalent of an entire adult bookstore online … We need to look at [computer networks] more in terms of a broadcast medium and some of the careful restrictions that go into that to protect children.
Predictor: Kaplan, Deen
Prediction, in context:The 1995 book “The Information Revolution,” edited by Donald Altschiller, carries a reprint of Sept. 12 1994, Christianity Today article “The Naked City” by John Zipperer. Zipperer discusses the growth of pornography on the Internet and the methods parents employ to combat it. The article includes an interview with National Coalition Against Pornography’s Deen Kaplan. Zipperer quotes Kaplan saying: ”Antipornography advocates hope to stimulate greater public awareness and more prosecution of obscenity delivery by computer modem. ‘Computers will be the means of transmission for pornography in the next quarter-century,’ says [the National Coalition Against Pornography’s Deen] Kaplan. ‘Most people don’t recognize that their child can take the home computer and dial up electronic bulletin boards that functionally have the equivalent of an entire adult bookstore online.’ Kaplan suggest new standards for what is permitted on computer networks, just as cable and broadcast television have different standards. ‘We need to look at [computer networks] more in terms of a broadcast medium and some of the careful restrictions that go into that to protect children.'”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Pornography
Name of publication: The Information Revolution (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: The Naked City
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 222
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne