Internet Content Filtering

Filtering Software

Some websites contain indecent or obscene content and are clearly not suitable for children and young persons. There are software tools available that can help filter out websites that are not suitable for children, monitor your children's online activities, and limit the amount of time your child spends online. These software tools filter out websites by compiling and updating a database of objectionable websites. Software vendors constantly update these databases.

The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration has a list of filtering software for home computer users.

But these software tools are not foolproof. Proper supervision and effective communication is also needed. Parental guidance is still the most effective means of protecting young people from objectionable material on the Internet. Parents should spend time with their children when surfing the Internet.

Content Filters on Regular Search Engines

Some search engines provide options for content filtering in their settings. The filtering can be a permanent or used on an as-needed basis e.g. Yahoo!'s SafeSearch feature that is designed to filter out explicit, adult-oriented content from Yahoo! Search results. Google's SafeSearch screens for sites that contain pornography and explicit sexual content and information, and eliminates them from search results.