Web-filtering

Web-filtering isn't exclusively a tool of Internet censorship.

U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web Paul Sonne 2011

Web-filtering technology has roots in the 1990s, when U.S. companies, schools and libraries sought to prevent people from surfing porn, among other things.

U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web Paul Sonne 2011

There are no special export restrictions on Web-filtering technology.

U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web Paul Sonne 2011

Blue Coat Systems Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., has sold hardware and technology in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar that has been used in conjunction with McAfee's Web-filtering software and sometimes to block websites on its own, according to interviews with people working at or with ISPs in the region.

U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web Paul Sonne 2011

But it has sold its Web-filtering technology in Yemen, where it has been used to block online tools that let people disguise their identities from government monitors, according to Harvard University and University of Toronto researchers.

U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web Paul Sonne 2011

Google isn't blocked, but access to its Web search services and Gmail have been unstable because of government Web-filtering technology since the company decided to stop complying with censorship and moved its Chinese-language Web-search service to Hong Kong.

News App's Overseas Debut: China Spencer E. Ante 2011

China blocks websites like Facebook and Twitter, which were used by activists in Egypt, and keeps out other undesirable foreign content, from criticism of China's leaders to information about sensitive historical events, using Web-filtering technology.

Call for Protests Unnerves Beijing Jeremy Page 2011

In addition, the government blacklists select overseas websites, including Facebook and Youtube, and use Web-filtering technology to sporadically interrupt Internet traffic that includes sensitive keywords.

U.S. Boosts Web Freedom Efforts in China, Iran Loretta Chao 2011

But for users in mainland China, the Hong Kong search site, along with other Google services such as Gmail, are plagued with frequent service disruptions because of the government's Web-filtering system.

Google Softens Tone on China Amir Efrati 2012

Makers of Web-filtering technology say they can't control how customers use their products.

U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web Paul Sonne 2011