As Internet filtering technology improves, so does the debate over its use and misuse. My blog is obviously sexually explicit, so I don’t begrudge intentional choices people make to restrict access to it on their own networks. However, I do feel it’s important (and useful) to point out where my work is censored.
I encourage everyone who keeps a blog to maintain a list of locations, companies, governments, and other institutions who censor them. Knowledge is power. Share, and empower others. (About circumventing censors.)
Governments or public facilities that censor this blog
- Dubai
- Providence, RI public libraries (yes, even the “adult-only” computers)
- NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, MD
- Long Beach Airport (this site is listed as “pornography” but, ironically, MaleSubmissionArt.com—another blog of mine, the one that’s intentionally pornographic—is not blocked)
- Austin, Texas Public Library system due to this site being “pornography.” (Thanks, Ferns.)
- Censored by Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, in Austin, Texas for information about “teen and young adult sex!” (sic.). Thanks, V.E. Duncan!
- Sacramento, California Public Library – Reported via email by someone who will “be interested to read more when I’m in places that don’t censor [your blog] (I don’t have internet at home).”
- The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian Health Service, as implemented by the San Diego-based Websense censorship technology. This was reported by an employee who works in the CDC, preventing sexually transmitted infections. The government censors my blog under the category of “sex,” which seems more than a little braindead considering the nature of the work. The reporter said, they “get this [censorship] message a lot.” (view screenshot) (read more)
- The National Institutes of Health censors this blog as “adult material.” (Thanks for the report, friend.)
- Veteran’s Affairs hospitals censor this blog as pornography. (Thanks, Elaine!)
- Sydney International Airport censors this blog as “pornography.” (view screenshot) (Thanks, August!)
- Taos Public Library censors this blog as “pornography.”
Companies that censor this blog
- Bolt Bus
- Vodafone UK 3G connections—If you use a Vodafone UK mobile phone, you can opt-out of “Content Control” here.
- SonicWall Content Filtering Service lists this site as “pornography.”
- Censored by OpenDNS’s “Parental Controls” as “Nudity, Pornography”. Apparently MaleSubmissionArt.com is simply censored as “Pornography,” despite also containing nudity. Weird (and oddly insulting). Thanks, Sophie.
- GogoInflight charges you $12.95 for Internet access on airplanes, but doesn’t tell you about its censorship. They censored my blog as “adult-and-pornography.” Interestingly, they don’t censor MaleSubmissionArt.com at all.
- Panera Bread (and at least they’re consistent; they block MaleSubmissionArt.com, too.) (screenshot)
- FedEx Kinko’s censors this blog, I discovered when I tried to print out a page off this domain. Ironically, it was the same FedEx Kinko’s where I printed out Wikileaks’ Cablegate cables for the Media Intervention for Wikileaks I helped organize some months back.
- Shari’s Diner chain censors this blog as “Adult/Sexuality Explicit”. (Screenshot.)
- Harpo Studios, the production company owned by Oprah Winfrey, censors this blog, which is not actually that surprising. (Thanks, Karen.)
- Westfield San Francisco Centre censors my site using OpenDNS, which I discovered when I tried to access it there. Also, apparently OpenDNS’s CEO doesn’t think censorship is censorship when the network is “private[ly]” owned.
- Caribou Coffee censors my site using OpenDNS.
- California Pacific Medical Center censors this site as “pornography”. (Thanks for the report, Professor Chaos, and the screenshot.)
- Amtrak censors this site as “pornography.” (Screenshot.) Disturbingly, they also use OpenDNS, as I’m noticing more and more outlets are doing.
- The Old Chicago restaurant chain censors this site as “Adult Materials,” using FortiGuard’s web filtering product. Interestingly, FortiGuard also censors KinkForAll.org, but as “pornography,” which I find amusing because KinkForAll is an expressly de-eroticized environment, while I have intentionally written porn on my blog.
- Apple Retail Stores use OpenDNS domain-name blocking, but also seem to block any other DNS requests on port 53.
- Caffé Vita censors this website as “Pornography” using the SonicWall Network Security Appliance.
- Intel Corporation censors this site as “Pornography”. (Thanks for reporting this, Jenn!)
- St. Mark’s Coffeehouse in Denver, Colorado censors this website as “Pornography” using the SonicWall Network Security Appliance.
- Phillips Avenue Diner in Sioux Falls, South Dakota censors this website as “Adult/Sexually Explicit” using the WatchGuard HTTP Proxy.
- Dunn Bros. Coffee in Minneapolis, MN censors this website as “pornography.”
- The Corner Bakery Café chain in Chicago, IL censors this website as “pornography” using the SonicWall Network Security Appliance.
- The M&M Gas Station and Motel 6 in Bernalillo, New Mexico censors this blog as “pornography.” (Thanks, Rebecca!)
- Marriott International (the hotel chain) censors this blog with an adorably if awkwardly phrased reason, “Sites that depict or graphically describe sexual acts or activity, including exhibitionism; also sites offering direct links to such sites.” (Here’s a screenshot; thanks anonymous visitor!)
- The Sunny Street Café in Wentzville, MO (and, presumably, all other locations managed by The WiFi Company) block this site as “pornography.”
- Applebee’s Restaurant in Clarksville, Indiana (and, presumably, all other locations managed by Cybera, Inc.) block this site without explanation.
- Target, Inc. blocks this domain as “pornography.” (Thanks for the report, Kevin.)
- Whole Foods, Inc. censors this website as “pornography” and “nudity.” (Thanks, Dina.)
Circumvention Tools
If you’re suffering under censors, try these tools to circumvent their efforts:
- FoxyProxy – A Firefox browser extension.
- Tor – An identity-obscuring proxy server networking tool. (You can also use this in conjunction with the TorButton Firefox Extension. You can learn more about Tor from this HowTo guide written for beginners.)
- Most DNS-based blocks (such as those employed by OpenDNS) can be trivially circumvented by configuring your computer to use different DNS servers.
The Censorship Wiki on Wikia also has a list of some well-regarded tools. PeaceFire is another good resource.
Add to this list
Did you try to access my blog but found it censored? Please leave a comment to let me know, so I can add the people responsible for blocking your free access to the Internet to this list.
by Keely Reine
10 May 2010 at 18:48
censored at NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, MD
by lovesickrobot
03 Aug 2010 at 06:23
I hate Vodafone more than I can possibly express. I hate them so much that my blood pressure rises perceptibly when I hear or read their name. It’s like a PTSD trigger or something; that is how much I fucking hate Vodafone. The fact that they censor you is only fitting.
by Fern
13 Oct 2010 at 13:41
Both this and Male Submission Art are blocked as pornography on the Austin Public Library system. I know, it’s Texas, but I thought Austin would be different.
by Sequoia
19 Oct 2010 at 22:30
This is a great idea! I wish I would have remembered to keep track of all the places my blog was censored while I was hiking on the A.T. I naively thought I’d be able to access internet enough to keep up with it, but the issue wasn’t internet access at all, it was the fact that I couldn’t even access my own site to check my email or update my blog (which was how I was funding the entire venture). Censorship is lame.
by Sophie
29 Nov 2010 at 00:27
You’re censored by OpenDNS, under “Nudity, Pornography.” Male Submission Art is also censored, simply under “Pornography.” Interestingly, Kink on Tap is not censored. (I have to use Peacefire to get here.)
by maymay
29 Nov 2010 at 00:38
Well, shit. And I was just looking at switching to OpenDNS from Comcast’s shitty DNS servers, too. Guess I’ll table that for now. Thanks, Sophie.
by Sophie
29 Nov 2010 at 00:46
No problem. Or, well, it is a problem, but you know.
by David Ulevitch
29 Nov 2010 at 08:31
You are not censored by OpenDNS. Parents who use our parental controls software might block whatever category you are blocked under.
By default we only block phishing sites. Most people don’t block anything else.
by Sophie
29 Nov 2010 at 15:17
Oh. Well, this is interesting. Thanks, David. It must be this parental controls software, then; I must look into that.
I’m at home in San Jose, maymay, and 17 years old. I have a long, complicated, saddening history of fighting my (usually open-minded, but unrepentantly ageist) parents over Internet censorship; it’s very frustrating but I tend to find ways around it.
It has to do with understanding, I guess. I want to understand myself, they don’t understand my difficulties, and I’m still under their control (nonconsensually).
But you don’t have to worry about OpenDNS, then.
by Sophie
29 Nov 2010 at 15:29
Except that they classify your blog as pornography; that could be worrying.
by maymay
29 Nov 2010 at 18:07
Thanks for the clarification David, and Sophie. I’ve updated the listing above to reflect the fact that OpenDNS censors this site only with its Parental Controls turned on.
It gives me a lot of faith to hear you clarify with a comment here. OpenDNS is now back on my “stuff to check out list.”
by Amos Keppler
06 Dec 2010 at 05:45
You have reason to be proud. They “honor” you with their intolerance.
All censorship and it’s proponents should Go Away, of course.
by a friend
23 Apr 2011 at 19:21
The National Institutes of Health censors the site as adult material.
by Elaine
09 Jun 2011 at 01:17
Veteran’s Affairs hospital censors this as pornography.
by Karen kilgariff
07 Aug 2011 at 17:30
Censored at Harpo studios
by xMech
16 Nov 2011 at 10:28
Amtrek’s Downeaster line does NOT censor you. Thought you might want to know.
by Fredrich O'Brien
13 Sep 2012 at 20:36
You are aware that putting explicit information about sex and sexual practices is illegal under the provisions of corupting minors, in many states. Companies that have representation in those areas, might be constrained, by law, from sharing what you put forth.
by maymay
13 Sep 2012 at 23:15
Congratulations, Fredrich O’Brien. You win most useless, missing-the-point comment for this page. Your future comments on this blog will be deleted as per my comment policy.
by IsaacSapphire
10 Nov 2013 at 13:55
Just so you know, as of yesterday, Panera does not block http://days.maybemaimed.com, although maybemaimed.com addresses are still blocked.