People are watching hardcore porn on public library computers - sometimes in front of young children.
An NBC undercover report lasting several days revealed a slew of adult patrons using free, library-provided Internet access to view pornographic videos and images. To the shock of many, such behavior is, at this point, legal.
NBC's Joel Grover sat down with John F. Szabo, City Librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library and head of the city's 73 libraries in LA. Despite the legality of watching pornography at libraries, Szabo says "it is absolutely not okay" for visitors to watch porn on library computers while children are present.
So why is it legal?
In 2011, the LA City Council voted that it's citizens' constitutional right to view adult content.
That's not to say that measures haven't been put in place to try and prevent it. LA public libraries have software built in which blocks access a significant amount of adult content. Unfortunately, the frequency of new websites providing such content is so high, that it is almost impossible to been 100% clear.
Many libraries also implement privacy screens on the computer monitors so that only the direct user can see what's presented. But "screen guard" technology like this is far from perfect, and generally people who are close to the screen are definitely able to see what's being viewed.