Website+Blocking

This is a small scale research project on the affect of website filtering on access to information in schools. We tested the following web site in several of our schools, and noted which ones were blocked. We also associated each website with a one of the following categories: Social Networking, Health Information, News and Current Affairs, and Utilities.

Below are our test sites, with comments as necessary:

//Rationale: Top 4 social networking websites from Wikipedia's entry on the subject, sorted by estimated number of users. Accessed Nov. 8, 2009.//
 * Social Networking** (Source: Wikipedia )
 * FaceBook [Blocked: SMS]
 * MySpace
 * Qzone (Chinese)
 * Windows Live Spaces
 * YouTube [Blocked: OKM]

//Rationale: This booklet is distributed in schools and by social assistance groups in Kelowna. We tested several potentially controversial websites in this book to see if they would be blocked.//
 * Health Information** (Source: Living Positive Resource Centre (n.d.) //Little Black Book.// Kelowna, BC: Ehmann Printworx)
 * @http://www.all-about-condoms-4-u.com/ (n.b.: No pictures)
 * @http://www.sexualityandu.ca/ (n.b.: Check out the animation on how to put on a condom)
 * Matthew's Place (Description: Site for LGBTQ Youth from the Matthew Shepard Foundation)
 * Scarleteen
 * Planned Parenthood (n.b.: Not contained in "Little Black Book".)

News and Current Affairs
 * New York Times
 * The Washington Post
 * Huffington Post
 * Americablog (n.b.: Washington insider blog written by a gay author)
 * Towerload (n.b.: Gay news site)
 * Salon.com (n.b.: Often blocked for containing adult content, eg: Abu Ghraib prisin scandal )
 * Pam's House Blend (n.b.: Queer news site by lesbian activist)

Utilities
 * Gmail
 * Hotmail

Websites That Should Be Blocked
 * Encyclopedia Dramatica (Reason: Adult content; hate literature?)
 * MyToyStore.ca (Reason: Sells sex toys; Background: Owned by Little Sisters Bookstore in Vancouver) [Blocked: SMS]
 * 4Chan.org (Reason: Viruses; Adult content; Unmoderated message board [Blocked: SMS]
 * Supreme White Power (Reason: Hate literature) [Blocked: SMS]