The level of Internet filtering software on school and library computers can significantly affect the content of retrievable health and medical information, according to a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation study released December 10 in Washington, D. C. The study, “See No Evil: How Internet Filters Affect the Search for Online Health Information,” summarized online at www.kff.org, was designed to help determine whether Internet filters are likely to block young people’s access to certain types of health information.
Researchers conducted online searches on 24 health topics and six pornography terms across six different search engines. The more than 3,000 health and 500 pornographic sites that came up during the searches were then systematically tested against six filters most widely used in schools and libraries—SmartFilter, 8e6, WebSense, CyberPatrol, Symantec, and N2H2.
Blocking of sites on sexual health issues was significant at all levels, from 9% at the least restrictive setting to as much as 50% of all sites at the most restrictive. The filters incorrectly blocked an average of 1.4% of health sites at the least restrictive level and 24% at the most restrictive. The study also showed that incidental exposure to pornography while searching for health information was infrequent.
Caroline Richardson of the University of Michigan Medical School and Paul Resnick of the UM School of Information conducted the study for the Kaiser Foundation. The results were published in the December 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Posted December 16, 2002.