How the Internet Censorship works

TipsMake.com - One of the first names of the Internet is 'information superhighway' because it is used to provide some people with quick access to a limited form of data. processing. For many people, it is really Internet access. For others, it's just like the information superhighway has some 'roadblocks' in the form of Internet censorship - Internet censorship.

The motivation of censorship is because it is designed to protect children from inappropriate information and those who intend to control a nation's data information. No matter what the reasons for censorship, the final reason is: blocking access to websites can cause problems.

Internet censorship is not just a tool that parents or governments should use. There are still a number of software products on the consumer market that can restrict or block access to a number of websites. Most people know of these websites as Web filters.Controlers have their own software: Censorware .

While there are still some people who support and oppose Internet control, it is often not easy to divide people. Not everyone uses the same tactics to achieve the goal. Some opponents of Internet control have not admitted government policies in court. Some take the name of free information soldiers, providing people with different ways to access information.

In this article, we will explore different levels of Internet control, from the available Web filters to government policies. In addition, we also explore ways some people use to combat this control.

Internet Censorship at home

There's no denying that the Internet contains a lot of documents that most parents don't want their kids to see. From pornographic sites to indiscriminate speeches, chat rooms or gambling sites, many parents worry that their children will be exposed to bad or even dangerous aspects of the content. this. While those who oppose censorship believe that parental supervision is the best way to keep children safe when they are online, parents point out that this is difficult - if not Saying is impossible - to control children's actions and access everywhere, anytime.

And these parents went to software or hardware to solve this problem. They can buy Web filtering programs like Net Nanny or CYBERsitter to block access to websites they don't want their children to access. These programs have a wide range of options that parents can choose to restrict the websites their children can access. These options are commands for programs to know which page to block. For example, CYBERsitter has 35 filtering categories, including websites with bad content and social networking sites.

The debate about Web filtering

Those who oppose Internet control have a big problem with web filtering software. Many of these filtering programs encode their blacklist, assuming that it will help minimize abuse. Opponents point out that the encrypted blacklist can include 'innocent' websites, including websites that criticize creators of web filtering software. Even if web filter creators don't block these sites for the right purpose, it's easy for these software to restrict access to the wrong site. This happens because the search program for keywords cannot detect the content of the page. For example, early web filtering software often blocks access to all 'potential' sites. The program cannot detect the difference between a harmless page about cooking instructions and a pornographic page. So it blocked all these pages indiscriminately.

Most web filtering programs use 2 main techniques to block content: Blacklists and keyword blocking. A blacklist - a blacklist - is a list of websites that web filter creators have designated as pages that can cause problems. Blacklist changes over time and most companies offer a free update list. Every attempt to access a blacklist site failed. As for keyword blocking, this software will scan websites that users try to access. The program will analyze the website to see if its content contains bad keywords. If the program detects an invalid website, it will block access to this page.

Another option for parents is to install a firewall. A computer firewall provides protection from dangerous or potentially harmful content. Firewall can be either software or hardware. They act as a barrier between the Internet and your computer network and only allow secure information to pass through and keep insecure content outside. The firewall requires a bit of knowledge about network administration (in this case, parents), rather than web filtering software. Parents who are technologically savvy will have no problems installing and managing a firewall. Others can use web filtering when the program can do everything for them.

Have you ever tried to access a website at your workplace but only received a warning message? Some companies have limited the sites their employees can access. Learn about Internet censorship under the perspective of businesses in the next section.

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Large businesses and Internet censorship

Moderate search engines

Most search engines censor their search results pages (SERPs) with the aim of providing users with relevant search terms. This is really necessary because some webmasters try to trick search engines by putting their SERPs in high virtual traffic. If the search engine does not remove and censor these pages, all SERPs can be filled in to match search results.

Recently, censors have criticized companies that have search engines such as Yahoo or Google when helping to limit countries with Internet control.

Corporations that want to restrict their employees from accessing the Internet often do so for a number of reasons. One of the most common reasons is to increase work efficiency. When employees use the Internet to search or communicate, they can also use it for entertainment. Some companies restrict Internet access very strictly with the aim of not allowing their employees to spend time online.

Another concern companies pay attention to is distractions. No restrictions, an employee can surf the web with insane information such as pornographic websites. If other employees see this information, they may also feel that their working environment is not comfortable. In addition, some companies have planned to use Internet censorship to avoid lawsuits.

While some companies use web filtering software similar to family products, many other companies rely on firewalls. With a firewall, a company can choose a site or even an entire domain to block. This method helps companies to avoid bad websites that their employees can access illegally.

In many offices, when an employee wants to access a restricted website, he / she will see a message that the network administrator has found the address unsuitable. Usually these messages include a selection of recommendations to the network administrator if the user feels that the site has been incorrectly blocked. Network administrators will change the website to be restricted through reinstalling the firewall.

What about corporations that allow Internet access, such as telecommunications companies or network companies? They play an important role in what customer information can be accessed on the Internet. In the US, there is a debate about the concept of net neutrality - network neutrality. In short, net neutrality indicates the level of information that Internet service providers (ISPs) allow to access all information without giving priority to a company or website. The telecommunications company and the network company have succeeded in persisting in the US Supreme Court on removing network neutrality.

Without network neutrality, Internet service providers can collect money for providers of information about network bandwidth usage. Paying information providers can get more bandwidth access, which means their site will load faster than competitors, who don't pay. For example, if Yahoo pays a service provider that Google does not pay, service provider customers will easily recognize that Yahoo's search engine loads much faster than Google. Network neutrality advocates established that this method would support censorship.

Internet censorship globally

On the other side of the network

Sometimes there are debates moving from the online world to the real world. In 2006, a group of people attacked an American citizen Peter Yuan Li at his own home in Atlanta. Li was originally a person against Internet censorship and a member of Falun Gong. Li has set up a website to criticize the Chinese Communist Party. Those who attacked him asked to know where to store the information. They brutally beat Li and took away 2 laptops and valuables.

Many countries restrict access to information on the Internet to some extent. Even the United States has laws that address the kinds of information you can access on the Internet in schools or public libraries. Some countries are even more serious, while a few prohibit Internet access altogether.

The OpenNet Initiative (ONI), an organization that has tried to provide information to people on global web and legal filtering, classifies web filters according to the following categories:

• Politics : content includes views contrary to a country's policy. Politics also includes content related to human rights, religious activities, and social issues.

• Social : Includes websites that focus on gender, gambling, drugs and others that a country might think is an attack.

• Conflict / security : websites that are related to war, small clashes, dissent or other types of conflicts.

• Internet tools : websites that provide tools such as email, instant messaging, language translation applications and ways to attack censorship.

Countries like the US are really free, with policies that restrict some websites, but other countries are stricter. Reporters Without Borders - an organization without borders - an organization that aims to promote the comfort and safety of journalists, the following countries have the most stringent censorship policies:

People who oppose Internet censorship

Think about children!

In 2000, the US Congress passed the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA ) into law. This law talks about restrictions on Internet access in public schools and libraries, funded by the E-rate program. This program will provide a number of technologies sufficient to meet schools and libraries. Some critics of the law say it violated the first amendment of the US Constitution.

In addition to thousands of people who oppose censorship through blogs every day, there are still some organizations that raise vigilance with Internet censorship. Some are normal organizations with reputable members, while others often oppose strict policies.

The American Civil Rights Federation (ACLU) has the most bitter opposition to Internet censorship. The federation has carried out many lawsuits with the aim of overthrowing the censorship law. In 2007, ACLU convinced the federal court that the Children's Online Protection Act (COPA) was against the constitution. COPA is a law that requires every website to have the consent of a minor parent (children under 13 years of age).

The OpenNet Initiative is an organization that tries to provide information to the world about ways countries allow or deny their citizens access to information. This is a joint research group of four universities: Harvard in Massachusetts of the United States, Toronto in Canada with Oxford and Cambridge in the UK. On the ONI website, you can search for a compatible map, showing countries that have Internet censorship.

Reporters Without Borders is also interested in Internet censorship, although the scope of this organization belongs to Internet activities. The organization maintains a list of 'enemies of the Internet' that are the most controlled countries, along with the policies introduced by that country.

The Censorware project has been launched since 1997. The project's goal is to educate people about web filtering software as well as how to use them. On the project website, you can find investigative announcements about the major web filtering programs available in the market as well as articles and censorship information. A similar site, Peacefire.org, is used to protect young Internet free speeches.

Some other organizations also offer advice on how to break or bypass censorware. Others use proxy sites. A proxy page is a website that allows you to browse to an address without using your IP address. You access the proxy page, including an entry for you to type in the URL or blocked address you want to access. This proxy page will then retrieve the information and display it. Browsers will only see you accessing a proxy site without knowing which page you are actually accessing.