UK government rethinks whitelist over wrongly blocked websites

Net filters have inadvertently blocked educational and charity sites.

17:23 31 January 2014

Following an incident whereby internet filters have inadvertently blocked educational and charity sites, the government is to create a list of websites that should not have been blocked in the first place.

Many of these sites are run by charities with the aim to educate children and others about health, sex education, and drug issues. The whitelist will be used to ensure educational sites will not be accidentally blocked again.

David Miles, who chairs the working group on over-blocking for the government's UK Council for Child Internet Safety, said: "Research suggests the amount of inadvertent blocking is low.”

"However, if you are a charity and you deal with teenagers in distress that 1 or 10 matters to you.”

He added: "We are building a master list of sites that the charities are helping us with and actively testing this right now.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Internet Service Provides Association said: "There's a growing realisation that filters are not perfect and will lead to some over-blocking,"

"There's a feeling that some sites sit in a grey area and more needs to be done for them."