Should the internet be censored for content?
104346
No, it should not be censored. Internet is one of the freedoms of expression and, quite frankly, it is a person's fault if he or she accidentally entered a site which the person does not like!
944511
The site would be better with less censorship in the Political and Religion sections. There's an old saying "Never discuss religion or politics."  That is because they are explosive. Yahoo should just censor profanity, racism, and illegality. There would be a freer exchange of ideas. The censorship on Yahoo  now is much stricter than TV or radio. There is no need for that. Those who are offended can leave. Those who want a lively discourse can stay. I have actually learned a lot being on this site. But if it becomes watered-down and stale, it will be worthless. This site has made me angry, made me laugh, and has been good entertainment, and educational. I hope Yahoo does not increase its censorship even more.
981853
I had heard on NPR a while ago that they actually ARE censoring the internet.  Something about how they have a different version of Google or something and certain sites are not available to users in....I forget which country exactly - but it was in Asia.   Of course, the news report was saying how some hackers were trying to bypass the censorship and how they were putting themselves in danger to access government censored information.
297867
Yeah. At least if they (ads) are adult-themed, vulgar or inflamatory. Chat rooms shouldn't be censored, however I think chatroom controllers should create chatrooms separately for adults and children, this way there is less interaction between them and thus less of a chance for pedophiles to contact children.
374114
I'm not particularly concerned about it. The internet is not a major risk to children, in reality. All this is just an overreaction caused by media hype. I've had unrestricted internet access since the age of eleven, and if anything, it's only helped me to grow up, with more understanding and knowledge of the world around me.\n\nPornography and violent media are rather easily access outside of the internet, and have been since before the internet became popular. I really wouldn't worry too much. As long as the child is mature enough and is taught the right values, nothing as mundane as internet access will corrupt them.
718167
CENSORSHIP IS A BITCH. thanks yahoo for "allowing" freedom of speech!
397401
I agree. This is censorship.
131272
Maybe they should be restricted, but not banned.  Obscene language is part of reality, and if literature is a reflection of reality then it must include obscene language to be realistic and effective.  However, some language and subject matters are not appropriate for certain people and therefore should be restricted from that audience.
85362
Restricting Internet access....hmmm...some congress members might not like that...
212743
No .. I think parents should be able to offer a butt whoopen if they are stupid enough to do something like that. But parents should be making their children more aware of sexual preditors on the internet.
801604
I'd think no because they censor what they show. If they were more honest they would seem negative but it would actually be positive because we would know the truth.\n\nThe way things are now they make the bad look good and the good look bad, in order to be politically correct.
123854
filtering sites that display extreme violence, terrorism, anti-government write-ups, extreme torture, extreme bizzarre sex contect etc should be banned from users.
163655
blogging is not different from the rest of the internet, or newspaper publishing for that matter. Same limititations to free speech: insults, confidential or copyrighted information, , promoting hate/violence/crime. If they can find you or website operator, they'll shut the blog down. Aside from that, nobody cares.
179589
Censorship can not truelly be justified in any sense.  It is simply societies way of controlling what they do not agree with.
248479
It is very tricky to answer. Yes it's a hard situation (no pun intended) the learning sites have routes to porn. Remember, the bill of rights was invented with no concept of internet and stuff, to stop the people posting the sites, you might be asking to tamper with our basic freedoms. This is an interesting topic.
831911
No. There are many software packages which advertise that they do that, but it is technically not possible to block everything.\n\nInstead, have your children use the internet responsibly, and don't let "it" alone keep them company, as you might do with tv for excample. The internet is not a child-friendly place.
391538
I agree except for one thing. I'm absolutely not bothered by discussions on cheating, either.\n\nI think censorship is never acceptable. I don't like it either when they replace 'dirty words' by asterisks. Like nobody knew what the actual words are! Like children are going to be hurt by reading something! If they're not ready for it, they won't even understand it! And the words themselves hurt no one. It's the ideas behind them that can hurt, and children just don't give words the same meanings we adults do. Doesn't it seem we're only protecting the children's parents from the awkwardness of having to explain something they're not ready to talk about? We aren't protecting children. We are protecting ourselves from children! Shame on us!\n\nBesides, who can be so prude to be upset by the words, rather than (if we ARE going to be upset) by the concept or the situation? I mean, you may be offended by the image of, say, a particular sexual activity. But it's the act what offends you. Not the word or words used to name that act. So, if you can't read the word, all that can happen is that you're going to identify the missing or censored word from the context, and that will offend you, too.