Wednesday, April 17, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Censorship is an oppressive government tool that should not be used to muzzle provocative radio personalities such as Don Imus and G. Gordon Liddy, a top Clinton administration official said in Las Vegas.
The secret to restoring sanity -- and respect -- to public airways is to educate children about the inherent treachery in spreading "disinformation," said Reed Hundt, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who attended the National Association of Broadcasters convention Tuesday. The FCC regulates most forms of communication, including telephones, television and radio.
"Censorship is the one thing we shouldn't do," Hundt said. "The disinformation put out by G. Gordon Liddy and Rush Limbaugh are gross inaccuracies. They should be held accountable in a court of public opinion."
President Clinton received criticism from First Amendment proponents last year after suggesting that Liddy, Limbaugh and other right-wing broadcasters should be silenced for stoking violent anti-government sentiments. Liddy is reported to have said that people trying to shoot government agents should aim for the head because federal officers wear bullet-resistant vests.
Clinton's remarks followed the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people and injured others. According to national news accounts, the ex-soldier charged with the bombing, Timothy McVeigh, associated with anti-government militia members.
Another flamboyant "shock jock," Imus, recently angered Clinton at a public speech attended by the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Imus made off-color remarks regarding the president's alleged infidelities.
Rather than trying to censor irreverent broadcasters, or any other form of free speech, the administration hopes to restore balance to public discourse -- and to achieve a range of educational goals -- by exposing schoolchildren to the broadest possible array of ideas, Hundt said.
Toward that end, the administration has launched an ambitious program to put computers connected to the World Wide Web in every classroom within five years. Hundt said the program will cost as much as $10 billion, but he said the investment is crucial to keeping American children competitive and informed.
"Kids who have access to information will find their own truths," Hundt said.
Hundt also proposed a "software solution" to block Internet pornography at the computer receiving images rather than the one sending them. The software, still in the developmental stages, would be similar to the so-called V-chip Clinton has proposed for television sets, Hundt said.
Hundt dismissed critics who say these measures amount to a high-tech form of censorship.
"The parents and teachers are making the decisions" about what to censor, he said, not government officials.
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