Acting to prevent minors from accessing pornography and other potentially harmful material online, the US Congress adopted the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) in 1998. The act required all companies who distributed material depicting nudity or sexual activity to abide by “community standards” and restrict minors from accessing their sites.

Almost immediately the federal government was restricted from enforcing the new law by court order. Critics of the legislation said that “community standards” were too broad to apply across the entire country and what one place found indecent, another might find acceptable. Furthermore, means of restricting access such as internet filters were too unreliable and often prevented access to protected speech.

Does COPA law that requires restricted access for minors infringe upon the First Amendment rights of adults?