Who decides what information we should have access to and what knowledge we should have? Can we take for granted that the information we get from the internet is free from bias? What role does the government play, does it act as a moral watchdog policing the mediums of information that its citizens have? When we do an online search, do we get to see all possible views on an issue, or are search engines biased to only refer to government approved content?
This section explores the issue of online censorship and the technology that goes behind it. We find out how information on the internet sometimes just shows us one side of the coin, totally ignoring the other.

• What is censorship ?

Censorship refers to the suppression of speech or writing that is considered to be a bad influence on society. Moral censorship is usually imposed by governments, though religious and other authorities might also target speech or writing that they do not approve of. Some content, such as books as movies, might be censored because they are judged to cross the boundaries of what is considered decent in a society at a point in time.
Here we explain the concept of censorship in context of the Internet.

• Content Filtering

The internet is a valuable resource. But, is the same flavour being offered to all its users? All over this site, we worry about the credibility of what people say. But what we don't say can sometimes be even more important.
Learn about how information on the internet is censored and why you might be seeing only one side to a story.

• Internet Censorship in China

China bears the dubious distinction of having the tightest Internet censorship in the world. A 2002 study by researchers from the Harvard Law School found that over 19,000 web sites were blocked by technical means.

• Firewalls

Ever wondered how the Internet Service Providers block websites, or how they know what websites you have visited? There is a lot of stuff happening in the background.
Firewalls are useful to protect your computer from external threats. But they can also be used to prevent users from accessing particular websites. Read about the technicalities of firewalls and how they are used to censor material over the internet.