In late December 2011Open Rights Group launched the website Blocked.org.uk. It gives people an easy way to report when sites and services are ‘blocked’ on their mobile network.
A ‘block’ means that the mobile company prevents a user from connecting to a given site. By default, mobile phone companies currently filter Internet access on their pre-pay accounts in this way. Essentially, anybody with a mobile phone account with these filtering systems in place will not be able to access websites that the mobile operators consider unsuitable for under 18s. The material that is blocked is far broader than just adult sexual content.We think there are a number of serious problems with how these
systems work. These include a lack of transparency, mistakes in
classifying sites and the difficulty of opting out of the filtering. Together,
these problems mean that people often find content is blocked when
it shouldn’t be.
The result is that filtering systems designed to give parents a way to manage their children’s access to the mobile Internet actually affect many more users than intended and block more sites than they should.
This is the nature of our concern.Mobile operators are dealing with difficult questions and by no means get everything wrong.However, at present the filtering systems are too blunt an instrument and too poorly implemented.Mobile Internet filtering blocks too much content, and applies to too many people, meaning it effectively adds up to a system of censorship across UK networks.
As more people use mobile devices to access the Internet, and as the
Internet continues to provide a potential platform for promoting both
freedom of expression and economic innovation, it is critical that such
problems are addressed. If they are not, then this form of censorship
will continue to create unwanted restrictions on access to information
for adults and young people, which will damage markets, undermine
the free flow of ideas and open communication, and make it harder to
promote responsible Internet governance internationally.
Mobile companies should be aiming to reduce to zero the number of
adults who have either unintentional or unwanted parental control
filters on their accounts. They should be able to achieve that while still
helping parents manage their children’s access to the mobile Internet.
In this short briefing we set out our perspective on the problems. We
explain how mobile Internet filtering currently works, point out some
of the consequences, and suggest ways that these problems might
be addressed. We believe that taking decisions about what people
can access online out of their own hands requires following some
simple principles. Filtering controls must be clearly and transparently
implemented. They should be responsive to mistakes, be easy to opt
out of and involve an active choice to opt in.
