I haven’t set foot in a physical library for at least three years, so it’s somewhat amusing to me that I’m suddenly obsessed with the question of Internet censorship in libraries. And yet, it’s a vital discussion: As more of our resources go digital, ensuring that information in our libraries stays free and unfettered becomes […]
Tag: Internet filtering
The LA Times, spurred by a November report of a homeless man arrested for masturbating in a library while looking at Internet porn, asks whether it’s legitimate to censor pornography in libraries. Though a number of commenters were–as is typical–quick to shout “of course!”, the Times actually makes an important case: “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” was […]
Today, the OpenNet Initiative has released a paper, authored by Helmi Noman and myself, enumerating the widespread use of American- and Canadian-built filtering technologies in the Middle East and North Africa. The paper, entitled “West Censoring East: The Use of Western Technologies by Middle East Censors 2010-2011“, looks closely at Websense, McAfee’s SmartFilter, and Netsweeper […]