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UK Govt's Censorware Blocks Tech, Civil Liberties Websites

Posted by timothy on from the but-you-must-give-it-time-you-see dept.

A few days ago, we mentioned that the UK's ISP-level censorware software not only does a poor job of its stated job (blocking porn), but blocks at least some sex education sites, too; now, reader badger.foo writes to say that's not all: "It fell to the UK Tories to actually implement the Nanny State. Too bad Nanny Tory does not want kinds to read up on tech web sites such as slashdot.org, or civil liberties ones such as the EFF or Amnesty International. Read on for a small sample of what the filter blocks, from a blocked-by-default tech writer."

4 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Any wide-scale blocking will have such problems by mi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Our hobby site got blocked by Googe/SafeBrowsing twice this months. No, we weren't hacked. No, we weren't hosting malware. We just happened to use the same advertising broker, that was fooled into showing malware ads earlier.

    If one wanted to make a good case, they could point out, how you can disappear from the Internet for mere association with someone else — and how suspicious it is, that that "something else" just happens to be a direct (if small-scale) competitor to Google...

    No, I don't like governmental censorware — as Heinlein put it in several of his books, the real danger comes not from content, but from the government's attempt to tell their citizens, that they can not be trusted to view it. That UK is doing just that is an outrage. But the fact, that the automated censor happens to be mis-categorize some content has nothing to do with it — the censorship is scandalously wrong whether or not it functions as designed.

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  2. Apparently... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They blocked the BNP website. (I don't agree with the BNP or anything those racist thugs stand for, but I don't condone political censorship.)

    Also the PPUK website.

  3. childline blocked for u12s by toshikodo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just checked to see if the filter would block children from accessing the website of the UK's most important helpline for children, childline [www.childline.org.uk]. Guess what? It does - you really really really couldn't make this shit up. Lets hope the little darlings aren't feeling suicidal as a result, because it also blocks their access to the Samaritans [www.samaritans.org]. Speechless!

    --
    No volcanos here
  4. Oblig xkcd by gmuslera · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Oh, wait, even XKCD is blocked according to http://urlchecker.o2.co.uk/. Even wikipedia is blocked.

    Probably the people behind this wants that the UK population be at least as stupid as them. In the race to the bottom there is no winner.