Bill Would Ban Federal Employees From Watching Porn at Work

A bill introduced in the House would prohibit federal employees from accessing or watching pornographic material on government computers or devices.

Federal workers who watch porn at the office could soon find it to be prohibited by new legislation.

A bill introduced in the House would prohibit federal employees from accessing or watching pornographic material on government computers or devices.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-North Carolina) is introducing the legislation, known as the Eliminating Pornography from Agencies Act (H.R. 901), in response to a report last year that an employee with the Environmental Protection Agency was watching as much as 6 hours of porn a day on his work computer and also downloaded 7,000 pornographic files.

Lawmakers at the time expressed disbelief and outrage that the employee wasn’t fired on the spot. EPA deputy administrator Bob Perciasepe said at the time, “We need to wait for the inspector general’s report. I don’t know if they’re going to send him a criminal notice.”

According to a press release from Meadows, the employee has yet to be fired for the offense.

“It’s appalling that it requires an act of Congress to ensure that federal agencies block access to these sites,” Congressman Meadows said.

“While there are rules in place at most agencies to ban this kind of unprofessional and potentially hostile workplace behavior, it continues to take place. There is absolutely no excuse for federal employees to be viewing and downloading pornographic materials on the taxpayers’ dime,” Meadows added.

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.