My Library Has Banned the DIS

[momof2inPA]

Sometimes I DIS at the library, but I couldn't log onto the computers attached to the state of Pennsylvania Norton security settings. They said the DIS was not accessible due to sexual education content. Can anyone shed light on why this would be? It's a moderated site and much more tame than most sites. I sent a request to change the designation.

 

[escape]

I didn't think public libraries could do this.

 

[momof2inPA]

I didn't think they could, either.

 

[CathrynRose]

Considering Ive seen people looking at dirty, dirty, dirty things online, at the library - I didnt think they could do this either.

I'd see who you could take that up with. Good Luck.

 

[NookOfTheNorth]

Nor, do I play one on TV, and there's a whole group of librarians (minus the buns) on the DIS who could probably answer the question better, but here goes.

No, internet filtering in public libraries is not illegal. The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) enacted (maybe by John McCain) in the late 1990's or early in the 2000's. It essentially said that to receive funding or decent prices on internet access called "e-rate", some filtering system needed to be put in place in public schools and libraries. This was contrary to another law that was found to be unconstitutional in 1997ish. Anyway in 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that CIPA was not unconstitutional; therefore, allowing or even supporting, the use of internet filters.

Your best bet is simply to send a message to whoever is in charge and try to get it changed. These filters are by no means perfect. Let me give you an example, where I teach the website Becca's Closet is blocked due to "Pornography", but all this site deals with is the donation of prom dresses to those less fortunate.

So, chances are you may be able to get it unblocked.

 

[momof2inPA]

I sent a note to have in un-blocked, but I wonder why they blocked it in the first place.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

that's just crazy...I would ask them to provide specific examples of what they have found to be so bad ...I have never read anything here that bad...

 

[eclectics]

The DIS teaches sex ed? Rats, I must have missed that thread!

 

[Geoff_M]

More than likely it was due to Norton scanning the site and finding "hits" on certain words on some of the pages. We used to have medical sites (like medical school on-line libraries) blocked at work because the filters saw certain anatomical names that were on the filters "hit list". A Community Board thread about pornography or child molesters could be even enough to trip a trigger.

It could also be due to "meta tags" that contain information about the web page. Meta tags are hidden from normal view and can only be seen when viewing the HTML source code for the page. For example, here's the keyword meta tag for the DIS's "Reply To Thread" page:
<meta name="keywords" content="disney world,walt disney world,orlando vacation,disney cruise line,disney cruise,disney hotels,disney resort,disney discount,disney world hotel,orlando theme park,disney tips,disneyland,disney discussion,disney blog,disney message board" /> Search engines use these meta tags to catalog sites. I'm not making the claim that this is what happened here, but sometimes code can get reused from one developer's site to another and they forget to update the meta tags, so the users thinks the site is about one thing, and search engines and blocking software might think it's about something else. Again, I'm not claiming that's what happened here, but that's one scenario where an apparently benign site could get blocked.

 

[momof2inPA]

So, do the mods here try to prevent the usage of words that Norton might weed out?

Can the mods control what might appear in the meta tags?

 

[LukenDC]

So, do the mods here try to prevent the usage of words that Norton might weed out?

Can the mods control what might appear in the meta tags?

I hope that the mods do not try to prevent usage of words that filtering software might screen out. Filtering software is notoriously unreliable and has blocked sites with legitimate scientific and public policy information. For example, web filtering software has been known to block sites pertaining to breast and testicular cancer, support groups for sex abuse survivors, and gay rights. Now a Disney travel and discussion site has been blocked.

You have done the right thing by taking your concerns to the librarian and requesting information as to why the DIS was blocked. Keep us posted!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

That's really stupid! With all the press that libraries get about not censoring sites, why would they censor the DIS?

Hopefully I didn't have anything to do with them blocking it!

 

[Geoff_M]

The meta tags would be Pete, and any other tech support persons, job... but like I said, I seriously doubt that's the problem. It probably a misinterpretation of some of the threads on the CB. The Duke Lacrosse threads of the last week alone have been sprinkled with lots of instances of words like "rape" and "stripper" that might lead automated scanners to think the site was rated somewhere north of "G". And yes, this points to one of the shortcomings of Internet filtering.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

It was blocked because Tigger&Belle keeps talking about how she is snarky!

 

[cherylp3]

I'd recommend sending a PM to one of the webmasters or posting this on the tech support board as well.

 

[LisaNJ25]

It was blocked because Tigger&Belle keeps talking about how she is snarky!

Nahh.. its from the dad staying home on kids spring break tent pole thread

 

[Servants of Evan]

My local library has it "banned" because the boards allow links to be posted. The rationalle is: a child could go to Disboards and from there click on a link inappropriate for kids. Yes, the boards are moderated but that doesn't mean that a link couldn't exist there for a while before being removed.

 

[LukenDC]

My local library has it "banned" because the boards allow links to be posted. The rationalle is: a child could go to Disboards and from there click on a link inappropriate for kids. Yes, the boards are moderated but that doesn't mean that a link couldn't exist there for a while before being removed.

I'm all for protecting kids, but that seems a bit much to me. Adults have a right to information and entertainment. Libraries, cable channels, bookstores, and other information and entertainment venues should not have to make everything kid-friendly. That's what parents are for.

I'm not a parent, but if I were I would not let my child surf the Internet without my close supervision.

 

[Geoff_M]

My local library has it "banned" because the boards allow links to be posted.

Quite frankly, that explaination makes no sense. If a "bad" link was posted here, the filter would "catch it" if the user attempted to click on the link. I think someone's feeding you a line.

I have run into a least one "filtered" location that bans all discusion boards... Several times a year I work inside our state's capitol building. When I was there last month I noticed that the Senate had installed an open wireless connection for visitors. "Cool", I thought. I can understand using the same type of filtering that most offices use, but their filtering is by far the worst I've seen. eBay: blocked (not a big suprise), sports news related sites: blocked (even the sports sections of some news sites), discussion boards: blocked, many popular political blogs: blocked. News, weather, and static sites, and that was about it. A message popped up that declared that the system admin would unblock the site if you could demonstrate that the site in question was germaine to the business of the Senate. For access labelled as for "visitors", I thought that was a bit extreme, to say the least.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Nahh.. its from the dad staying home on kids spring break tent pole thread

Hmmm, sounds like I missed a good thread!