Government to tackle all the non-porn sites blocked by its porn filter

Government to tackle all the non-porn sites blocked by its porn filter
All aboard the censor ship

Thinking of the children has got the UK government into a right pickle as is tries to work out how to keep legitimate sex education and charity websites from being blocked by its porn filter.

The BBC reports that the government is now drawing up a list of sites that have been wrongly blocked so that it can ask ISPs to unblock them, as well as drawing up a system to allow blocked sites to contest their blocks.

It does sort of sound like the kind of thing that should have been sorted out before the ISP-level block was put in place, but there's no point hanging around when there's porn to be blocked.

Over blocking

Sex education sites, charities that help victims of sexual abuse and news site Torrent Freak were among the wrongly-blocked - several of these organisations are now working with the government to build the lists.

The government insisted that ISPs put the filters into place in 2013. The system means that when you sign up to a new ISP it will come with default parental controls switched on, blocking access to adult sites and other content deemed harmful.

To get rid of the filters, you have to physically go to your provider and say you'd rather not have them on - a potentially embarrassing call to make.

Over the course of 2014, ISPs will also be contacting their existing customers and asking if they'd like the filters switched on or not; public Wi-Fi will automatically have the filters in place.

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.