What Is Internet Censorship?

Date First Published: 26th November 2023

Topic: Computer Systems

Subtopic: Ethics & Sustainability

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 4/10

CONTENTS

How Are Websites On The Dark Web Accessed?
Risks Of The Dark Web
Difference Between The Deep Web and Dark Web

Learn about what internet censorship is in this article.

Internet censorship is the control of what can be accessed or viewed online. For example, in some countries, users may not have access to some websites as access may be blocked by their ISP. Internet censorship can be done by the government, ISP, school, company, or parental controls.

Internet censorship does not remove any content from the internet. Instead, it blocks access to it. Internet censorship can be bypassed by proxy websites, VPNs, and software bypassing tools, most of which rely on gaining access to a connection that is not subject to filtering.

Reasons For Internet Censorship

Internet censorship is often used to:

Prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate content.
Block access to undesirable or harmful content, such as sites that include hate speech or fake news.
Block access to websites that contain malware or viruses.
Block access to websites with distracting or non-work-related content in schools and organisations.
Block access to websites that violate laws, such as websites that sell illegal drugs.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Internet Censorship

The advantages of internet censorship are:

It can prevent access to harmful content. There are lots of websites out there that contain harmful content and are easy to find. Internet censorship reduces the risk of people coming across harmful content.
It can create reasonable limits. There is a lot of content on the internet that is best for people to not see and internet censorship can prevent people from seeing content that is inappropriate, upsetting, or harmful for them.
It can reduce the risks of cyber threats. People store a lot of their personal and private information on their computers. Without the right knowledge of passwords and privacy policies, people can leave themselves very vulnerable online. Limiting the amount of websites where users can enter information can reduce the risks of identity theft and other cyber threats.

The disadvantages of internet censorship are:

Overly strict internet censorship can limit too much free access to information. Real information may be on blocked websites and people can become frustrated if they cannot access it.
It can also limit the content that people post. This can make some people feel like their freedom of speech is restricted.
It can be controversial. People may not always agree with the acceptable and unacceptable websites, which can create disagreements over which websites should be censored.
It can be time-consuming and expensive to implement. It would be an expensive and time-consuming process to filter all of the websites and information published online.