So many comments, so many unqualified opinions....
@AC @ 9.48
Can you not understand why people may want to use technology, operating in a safe space, free from content that is against their religious beliefs? Would you not employ Internet filtering for your kids?
@HFoster
Why do you think that this has anything to do with the state?
There are filtering services aimed at the Christian market. Like those services, use of this web site is elective.
@Bad Beaver
This doesn't take over awareness or discipline, but is rather the result of acute awareness that pornography can all too easily be delivered even with innocent search queries.
@Tony Green
The strictly orthodox may choose not to have TV's because they do not wish to be exposed to content that they deem unsuitable or incompatible with their religious beliefs. That does not equate to being backward with technology - there has been a very high level of computer use even with the orthodox community. However, Internet access has only been selectively adopted, due to concerns about the "variety" of content out on the Internet that they do not wish to be exposed to.
@E_Nigma
"Censored" signifies that one party controls the content that can be viewed by the majority. Surely this is a case of people *electing* to utilise a service which filters content according to an ethos that they also subscribe to? No-one is forcing this upon anyone....
@AC @ 11.54
If their religious beliefs state that they should have no physical contact with the opposite sex, other than with their wife or husband, can you not understand that maybe they don't want to be squashed right up on a bus that would result in unwanted physical contact with every jostle?
@MinionZero
See my comment to @HFoster.
What makes you think that anyone is forcing anything upon anybody else? This is an elective service. They are not forcing Google to make changes. But they do probably want to provide a safe environment, free from Porn, that any good parents should be using web-filtering software to achieve. Any maybe the adults want to benefit from a search engine, without having to see any Britney Spears up-skirt pictures...
I think you really need to separate out your connecting of a niche and truly elective search engine that filters out unwanted content, and the "media" as a whole. Please remove your tinfoil hat and get a grip on reality. Faceless corporations do undoubtedly exert an unhealthy influence on this world, but the damage of information control is far more problematic in certain territories, compared to the wider, "open" world.
How you can compare / confuse / show equivalence between an elective search engine and the global media shows that you need to get out more.
Can I suggest you have a look at the on-line copy of this research, to see the type of Internet filtering carried out in the "West" and the rest of the world: http://opennet.net/accessdenied
In some ways, the filtering of pornography by China and several Arabic nations could almost be commended, in order to create a "safe" environment. It is the political filtering that is problematic....
@JohnP
See comment to @Tony Green above. If you cannot see the difference between a TV and a computer, then that is down to your lack of understanding, rather than any contradictory relgious practices. Likewise, if you cannot understand a religion that acknowledges the realities of human feeling, but which funnels it into the relationship between husband and wife and cannot understand how someone subscribing to those religious sensitivies might want to "guard" themselves from inflaming what are normal feelings and thoughts, then perhaps you not the best qualified to impose your own judgements on the situation.
@AC @ 13.43
Yes - you are right - it shouldn't even let you logon. Maybe they need BIOS extensions to deactivate the power switch on Saturdays, to stop curious kids!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
