Children's exposure to pornography while online has become a political topic with various family-oriented groups seeking to prevent children's access to such sites and various civil liberties groups arguing to protect free speech. In the meanwhile, researchers say nearly a fifth of American children who use the Internet have reported unwanted sexual advances from strangers. Numerous interesting proposals have arisen from this debate including one by Senator Joseph Lieberman to create a new ".sex" or ".xxx" domain which would alert computers with firewall protection in them to the site and block access if instructed to do so by a parent or guardian.

Recommended Links:

Children in Cyberspace
A privacy resource guide for parents by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a California-based consumer information group.

National Law Center for Children and Families
The National Law Center for Children and Families (NLC) is a specialized resource for those who enforce state and federal obscenity and child exploitation laws; counsels federal, state, and local legislators on the constitutionality and effectiveness of amendments to existing criminal and civil codes; and provides a training and information clearinghouse on specialized issues involving in illegal pornography and First Amendment related cases.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
NCMEC serves as a focal point in providing assistance to parents, children, law enforcement, schools, and the community in recovering missing children and raising public awareness about ways to help prevent child abduction, molestation, and sexual exploitation.

PedoWatch
PedoWatch is dedicated to the prevention of child sexual abuse online and encourages reporting of incidents to law enforcement.

SafetyEd International
SafetyEd International is a non-profit organization founded in 1998 and run by volunteers with many years experience in Internet safety education, child advocacy, and child protection.

WHOA: Working to Halt Online Abuse
WHOA is a volunteer organization founded in 1997 to fight online harassment through education of the general public, education of law enforcement personnel, and empowerment of victims.

The UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen
Founded in 1997 in cooperation with G–teborg University, Sweden and UNESCO, the aim of the clearinghouse is to support the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with respect to issues relating to children and the media. Fundamental to the work of the Clearinghouse is the creation of a global network of researchers, policy-makers, media professionals, teachers, and voluntary organizations.

NOTE: The links recommended above address the issue of children's access to pornography. Pornographic links are not provided here.