Network Security News

Web filtering censorware takes a hit in China, Tennessee

Monday, August 17, 2009

Charges of political censorship appear to have undermined the plan of Chinese authorities to require packaging of web filtering software called Green Dam Youth Escort on all PCs sold in the country.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., a lawsuit forced Tennessee school districts to stop filtering educational sites about gays.

Last week, China's minister of industry and technology, Li Yizhong, announced that use of the software would "depend on consumers," the Wall Street Journal reported.

China had earlier postponed its requirement that all PCs would be required to come with the web filtering software by July 1, after American security researchers at the University of Michigan discovered flaws in Green Dam that made it vulnerable to exploits by hackers.

In the U.S., the American Civil Liberties Union won a settlement from two school districts in Tennessee that had set web filters to block access to websites that "presented positive information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people," although students could access sites urging individuals to attempt to change their sexual orientation from gay to straight.

ACLU said about 80 percent of school districts in Tennessee were using the same filtering software, but agreed to change the filter settings so as not to exclude the LGBT-supportive websites.