Filtering, Censorship, and Dealing With It

I'm being serious again.

Earlier today, I read "Censorware is Outta Control! (Calling all CyberWarriors)."

The title of that September 12, 2007, post is a little over-the-top, and so is the content of some of the blogs mentioned in the post.

However, anyone whose blog is more controversial than pocket lint should read "Censorware is Outta Control!"

The important point is that software like SurfControl, SonicWALL, Barracuda, SmartFilterWhere, and Contact SafeSurf can be set to keep people from seeing 'bad' sites and blogs. It's called 'filering' or 'censoring,' depending on your point of view.

There have been problems with these services from day one.

Some use keywords to distinguish between naughty and nice sites. I read, years ago, of one service that with a 'kid safe' filter that let some porn through, while blocking a fan page about Patrick Stewart's role in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Others rely on black lists and white lists, where 'good' and 'bad' sites are identified by human beings. In theory, this system should, over time, reliably identify acceptable and unacceptable sites.

Black list / white list systems have a flaw, though, especially when they act on input from people who don't work for the filter service.

That's the system presumably used by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) state-run ISP, Etisalat. Etisalat, the only ISP in the UAE, blocked secretdubai.blogspot.com because someone complained about the blog's nudity. The punchline is that the blog contained no images, nude or otherwise.

On another continent, 1389blog.com is having problems, too. It, and some other blogs and sites which do not approve of Islam, and/or the jihad against the west, have been labeled as "violence/hate/racism" sites, or given a similar label. If I were a Muslim, I wouldn't enjoy reading them, but 1389 Blog, at least, doesn't seem to fit the "violence/hate/racism" designation.

But, someone thought so, and so they were blacklisted. Once labeled as racist, hate-filled, violent sites, the site owner can try to have the site re-labeled as "media," or "political advocacy," or a similarly appropriate term.

Then, after a while, the 'bad site' label may get stuck back on, and the cycle begins anew.

I don't agree with many of the blacklisted sites, but I'm no fan of censorship, either.

Bloggers and webmasters can, with a bit of work, deal with blacklisting. The "Censorware is Outta Control!" post lists these censorware test pages:

• SurfControl
• SonicWALL
• Barracuda
• SmartFilterWhere
• Contact SafeSurf using the information below.

the 1389 Blog post gives some how-2 advice which I'd suggest reading.