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On 4/8/01 Taking Aim at Filtering went public with the sending of the following message to seven Internet mailing lists. The updates that follow give more details of the progress of the experiment. YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO HELP PAINT AN ACCURATE PICTURE OF FILTERING! Having worked on a UNESCO project for online safety, I thought I knew a good deal about filtering. In November of 2000, prompted by the fact that our non-profit web site was being blocked by a large number of filters, I began an investigation to find our why. The deeper I dug, the more I realized there was a lot more I could learn. While examining the practices of filtering companies, I became concerned that we were not seeing an accurate picture of what was happening. Part of that was due to the discovery of a flaw in one of the major products that was resulting in overblocking to an extent far greater than even their most severe critics has estimated. I realized that our view of filtering is much like that of Six Blind Men of Indostan, in the poem by John Godfrey Saxe. The poem is an example of how easy it is for us to jump to erroneous conclusions and generalization. All six blind men, upon touching an elephant for the first time, described it differently based upon the part he had contacted. The on who touched the leg said it was like a tree. The one who touched the side said it was like a wall. The one who touched the tail said it was alike a snake, and so on, but no one of them had an accurate picture. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For those not familiar with the poem, it can be found at http//www.tamilnation.org/forum/goliard/sixblindmen.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our view of the impact of filtering is like that of the six blind men. We each make generalizations based on our own experiences and never get a picture that is actually much bigger and more complex than we imagine. Last week, with the help of people on the LM_Net listserv, I began an experiment to see if it was possible to collect a large body of data that would paint a much clearer picture of what is happening in our schools as a result of filtering. I set up a web form at the Online Internet Institute's web site for people to report the URL of any site that was blocked in error by a filter. Even though it was spring break and list traffic was slow, the results convinced me that if we expand this effort to other lists, and educators around the country contribute, we can make a difference. The data we collect will be freely available to any organization that would like to examine it. All data will be collected ANONOMOUSLY. Anonymity is no problem, because the data will contain a URL and filter name, so that the validity of the data can be check if so desired. HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO... 1) Report any incident in which you are blocked from a web site to which you feel you should have access, by filling out the SHORT form at http//oii.org/html/overblocking.html (When you visit, please Bookmark it or add it to your Favorites so it is convenient for your next report.) 2) I am posting this message to LM_Net, WWWEdu, K12Admin, Classroom Connect, EdTech, TechCoord, and DUC. If you are a member of an educational listserv, other than the ones listed, please send this message on to that list. I will be posting periodic updates to the about lists and at http//oii.org/html/filtering.html where you can currently read the results of the first week's experiment. Feel free to pass updates on to others. (A slightly different version of this message will go to various organizations and Congressional representatives.) As a group, teachers have always had it within their power to shape the world. We exercise that power in individual ways within the walls of our classroom. With the Internet at a tool, we have it within our means to exercise that power in a positive fashion and reach out beyond our classroom. If we each participate and contribute our own small part to this effort and others yet to come, our individual voices will combine into a powerful voice that will be heard far beyond our classroom walls. Please report overblocking to http//oii.org/html/overblocking.html Thanks, [ Previous ] [ Filtering Home ] [ Next ] |
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