The efficacy of Internet filtering

If there ever was a reason not to trust Internet filters, even from a world authority like McAfee in this case, then the blocking of my friend Amira Al-Hussaini’s website is a case in point. For some reason, the “smart filter”, which is purportedly used by most telcos in the Gulf, has mistakenly categorised her site as pornographic! How utterly ludicrous.

What’s even more ridiculous is the government’s insistence on a big-brotherly attitude and its taking our place as human beings, parents, teachers and mentors and arbitrarily deciding on what is proper for us to view on the Internet and what is not. So it’s not too much of a surprise to see it using such software which is configured most probably to be have a free hand in controlling what a whole nation should be allowed to witness.

Is this not an embarrassment on their part? Will they ever learn and give us the option of choosing what we wish to view and what to ignore?

I’m afraid with their current method of thinking, there’s not much hope.

Someone, please manually remove http://sillybahrainigirl.blogspot.com from your infernal lists, and while you’re at it, fix that so called feedback form so that situations like this can get resolved in a civilised manner.