Various public institutions that offer WiFi access to the public include blocking filters to make sure that … well … kids don't see or read naughty things (esp. on the public nickel).
The problem being, of course, that such filters tend to be somewhat less than, oh, rational in what they choose to block, especially in situations where adults might be reasonably looking up images or text that some arbitrary filter has decided is too naughty for viewing. For example …
British Library Wi-Fi Blocks Access to Shakespeare’s Hamlet Due to Violent Content
Author Mark Forsyth was writing his latest book in the British Library when he needed to cite a line from Hamlet. Too bad the British Library decided he wasn’t allowed to do that because the play is too violent! Kids could get the wrong idea about poisoning their brothers or uncles, you see.
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You'll know what I'm wondering…
Actually … what are you wondering, +Al Hunt?
Is the Bible blocked on the same grounds? Actually, are any of the popular religious texts?
I suspect not — but aside from experimentation, there's no way to tell because blocking services generally treat their algorithms and results as proprietary information.
Same thought occurred to me – many parts of the bible make Hamlet look like, well, a Sunday school book. But companies that make blocking software probably have deliberate exceptions in their algorithms. Most like religious texts would be exceptional, but they hadn't thought of old Bill yet.
And that's the problem — if a rule requires whitelisting explicit exceptions to avoid the absurd, then maybe the rule involved is poorly crafted.