ACLU To Congress: Keep Hands Off Violent TV

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/26/2007 5:38:00 AM

The American Civil Liberties Union told Congress Tuesday to stay out of the content-control business, saying that is the parents' job.

In advance of Tuesday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on TV violence, Caroline Frederickson, who heads the ACLU's Washington office, urged parents to parent their kids, including blocking channels and changing channels, but warned that deciding "what should be aried on television, and when" is not one of the things that government does very well.

The group said it supported industry or government-sponsored media literacy education, but that "government-imposed standards for television violence would threaten core American values: the right to a free and open media, the right to free speech and the right of parents to control the upbringing of their children."

The Senate is holding the hearing in response to an FCC report to Congress that found that TV had gotten more violent, that studies showed that TV violence negatively affected children, and that it was ready to regulate it if Congress expanded its authority.