Web Content Filtering Policy

[DaveAB]

Hi all,

 

At the institution where I work we have Forcepoint web content filtering. We also have Google, YouTube and Bing SafeSearch/Restricted mode enforced. A working group from our senior management team review the filtering categories and decide on which categories to block and allow. (Violence, hate speech, gambling, etc)

 

We regularly come across instances where sites displaying content we'd want blocked (eg a beheading video) get through. These are usually found in Google even with SafeSearch on and the web content filtering has usually got them categorised as 'News' or something else we allow.

 

We can always block these by manually adding to a black list.

 

However I wondered what your institutions do? Do you to anything on top of what we're already doing. My personal opinion is that we are doing everything we can reasonably do to protect learners and the institution needs to take the view that his stuff is on the internet and students need educating on how to use the internet safely.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Regards,

 

Dave

[Arcolite]

We tend to take the approach that filtering is never going to be 100%.

You just have to ensure you've done everything you can to ensure that the risk is low (which it sounds like you have).

 

Decent monitoring and reporting is just as important, if not more so, than efficient filtering because something getting through and not knowing about it is far worse.