Beat Internet Censorship THE PAGES THAT 5 DISCOVER GOOGLE HIDES
Your mobile network may block a website that other internet providers allow
bit.ly/bbfc390, which will resolve the complaint within five days. Research by the Open Rights Group and other campaigners has found that networks have unfairly blocked hundreds of websites, blogs and forums, including a pop-gossip site, a creative-writing blog, a tweet archive, a Sheffield church group and Shelf Appeal (shelfappeal .com) – “a blog about putting things on a shelf” (bit.ly/mobile390). You can find out whether your mobile provider is blocking a particular site by entering its URL at www.blocked.org.uk (see final answer below).
engine can prove impossible. One way around this is to switch to the US version of Google, which isn’t affected by the ‘Right to be forgotten’ ruling. Go to www.google.com in your browser and you’ll probably be redirected to www.google.co.uk, so click the ‘Use Google.com’ link in the bottom-right corner – or just go to
The EU’s ‘Right to be forgotten’ ruling in May 2014 has so far forced Google to remove more than 479,000 links from its search results, because their content could cause individuals to be “perpetually or periodically stigmatised as a consequence of a specific action performed in the past”. Google’s Transparency Report (bit.ly/ transparency390) says it’s complied with around 42% of removal requests, and provides anonymised examples. The pages themselves remain online and uncensored, but without knowing their exact URL, finding them without the help Google says it has complied with 42.4% of more than 1.3 million requests to remove links from search results of a search
may have a vested financial interest] can obtain them without much real discussion, except around implementation. ISPs could also do more to make blocking transparent, so errors and scale can be properly detected.
them to develop the skills they need to navigate the web safely.
Are ISPs going too far with the strict filters that they are now obliged to offer customers?
Yes, some online censorship is always going to be necessary, but if the process if transparent, fair and independent, web users’ rights can be respected. However, as already pointed out, blocking can be problematic and is not in itself the only solution to genuine social problems. So, for example, Internet filters cannot guarantee that a child will be safe online. Censorship of material, such as libellous or hate speech, at source, also needs the same level of transparency to remain You can use ORG’s Blocked tool to find out if a specific website is being blocked by your ISP accountable.
The four main ISPs voluntarily agreed to implement filters and give customers a choice about whether they wanted them or not. However, Sky has recently gone one step further by automatically activating filters for new customers so they have to request that they are removed. This is not giving customers an informed choice about filters. The same applies to mobile providers. All ISPs and mobile providers need to make customers aware that these filters sometimes censor websites that are not harmful, and are not guaranteed to block all websites that are unsuitable for under-18s. They should also tell customers that the best way to keep children safe online is to talk to them about their internet use and encourage
COVER E R FEATU
Is transparency about online censorship a fair compromise between blocking sites and treating web users with respect?
How can Web User readers help to unblock web content and sites that have been unfairly censored by ISPs? Your readers can use our Blocked tool (www.blocked.org.uk) to check whether websites have been blocked. There is guidance on the site for how they can then contact ISPs about incorrect blocks. It would be very helpful if they also let us know about any incorrect blocks (by emailing info@ openrightsgroup.org) so we can monitor the impact of overblocking.
10 - 23 February 2016
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