TMCnet News

Blocking is not really productive [Daily Record, The (Wooster, OH)]
[October 07, 2014]

Blocking is not really productive [Daily Record, The (Wooster, OH)]


(Daily Record, The (Wooster, OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) With the rise of the Internet, there has been a rise in those who want to block content on the Internet. From your employer who wants you to stop wasting time on Facebook to repressive governments that want to prevent citizens from viewing unapproved ideas, blocking content has been a hope and dream of many. However, those who pursue blocking content usually end up failing, causing more harm, and often shows a comical lack of knowledge of how technology works.



The most notorious censorship occurs in places like China and Iran. Content on the Internet that is critical of the regimes' leaders or policies is often on the block list. Turkey, for example, not that long ago, blocked Twitter as Turkish citizens used the service to criticise and organize protests. China, just last week, blocked In-stagram so its citizens could not see pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. While a government blocking free speech is deplorable in itself, it doesn't actually work.

Let's take a look at an extremity: Iran. Iran's government is so paranoid about its citizens using the Internet it is cutting Iran off entirely from the worldwide web and is creating its own Internet. Iranians still want to communicate electronically with each other, so they created a Bluetooth network that doesn't use any infrastructure. Bluetooth allows devices within close proximity (a few feet) to communicate.


You set up a system where one device passes information to the next and so on and you create a network that can span a whole shopping center. Iranians are still about to organize protests in secret because they can use a network they created themselves.

Now let us consider an employer blocking content.

First of all, an employer has the right to block whatever content it wants on a network. It just may not work as well as hoped for. Many employers feel certain websites harm productivity.

However, here again it is easy to get around these restrictions. I was once helping to run a charity event at one such location. I wanted to post a picture of the event to Facebook, but the network blocked Facebook. Solution? I switched to the cellular network (by turning off Wi-Fi) and was able to post to Facebook just fine.

There are a couple of reasons for employers to block websites that actually do work. If the site could pose a danger to the network itself, it may be smart for an employer to blacklist a website. This type of danger would include sites that are known malware distributors and viruses. If employees really want to download viruses they are perfectly fine doing it on their own time on their home computer.

Another reason would be to limit sites that use up bandwidth. Networks can only handle so much traffic and that traffic should be prioritized for work. Sites that stream music or video can eat up a disproportionate amount of bandwidth compared to work related activities, such as email.

The main point is, you can't block the behavior by flipping a switch on the network. If an employee wants to watch Netflix, there is nothing stopping the employee from using their smart phone. If a group of people want to protest government oppression, they are going to find ways to do so on the Internet. For employers, censorship won't make your employees more productive. For governments, censorship won't make you more popular.

If you are concerned about these issues, work on building better policies and relationships.

Technology will always allow for a way to get to content that has been forbidden.

(c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]