Considering Web Filtering Software?

Joe St Sauver, Ph.D.
Director, User Services and Network Applications
joe@oregon.uoregon.edu

Occasionally we get inquiries asking what sort of web filtering software we'd recommend for installation on a home computer. These inquiries usually originate from parents who are interested in trying to shield their children from objectionable material present on the Internet.

Our general recommendation has consistently been that there is no substitute for direct parental supervision, and that most people will generally be best off avoiding all web filtering software (sometimes called "censorware')--if for no other reason than that it will often block useful and typically innocuous websites.

Seth Finkelstein's "Anticensorware Investigations' site (http://sethf.com/anticensorware/ ) does an excellent job of highlighting some of the problems with filtering software. Finkelstein's site was cited in the May 31, 2002, federal district court decision overturning the Children's Internet Protection Act. (For more information on that suit, see http://www.aclu.org/features/f032001a.html )

Here are some examples of generally useful websites identified by Finkelstein that are sometimes blocked by filtering software:

• The Wayback Machine web archive (http://web.archive.org/ ), selected as site of the year by Yahoo Internet Life in January 2002. For details, see http://www.yil.com/features/feature.asp?Frame=false&Volume=08&Issue=01&Keyword=topofnet&Page=01

• Google's cached page archive (http://www.google.com/) and Image Search archive (http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=), and the Babel Fish language translation website (http://babel.altavista.com/tr ).

'Potentially Objectionable' Content?

It may also be educational to see the list of categories of "potentially objectionable content' identified by one popular filtering product company, N2H2. The list of "potentially objectionable content' categories mentioned at http://www.n2h2.com/products/categories.php is amazingly broad. Among them are:

• search engines (described as "Sites that offer unfiltered, unrestricted, unverified search engines. Examples: http://www.altavista.com/ ...')
  
• sites offering free web-based email, such as Hotmail
  
• sites offering free web pages, such as Geocities
  
• online auction sites, such as Ebay
  
• job search websites
  
• electronic commerce sites, such as Amazon ("Many e-commerce sites pose a risk to users by offering direct access to items that would normally be filtered under other categories such as Weapons, Profanity, Lingerie, or Pornography.')
  
• news sites, described as "Sites containing material reported in a newspaper, periodical, or a newscast, whether it is current or archived. Examples: http://www.cnn.com/ http://www.seattletimes.com/ "
  
• "Sites that permit messages to be posted and read immediately. Examples: http://www.oregonlive.com/forums/ ... "
  
• "Sites that post jokes, humorous stories, or other forms of humor."
  
• "Sites that include updated information about professional and collegiate sports, such as game scores, player status, trades, and commentary.'
  
• "Sites that include information about stock trading, stock quotes, or the stock market."
  
• "Sites that contain updated information about various recreation and entertainment events such as movie listings, theater and concert schedules, or local entertainment."
  

The notion that online versions of content commonly found in a daily newspaper somehow merit filtering (at least at some locations) is, frankly, somewhat mind boggling.

Even those of us who may have attended conservative or religiously affiliated schools years ago--long before the Internet existed--were at least allowed to read news about sports, view the jokes published in Reader's Digest, and scan U.S. News and World Report magazine!

We continue to believe that the best way you can protect your children is by working directly with them when they're using the Internet, and by discussing with them what you believe is and is not appropriate for their level of intellectual and emotional development.