E-mail sent 23/11/03

Dept of Culture, Media and Sport
Web filtering of drug campaign sites in public libraries

Sir

Please note I am not questioning the need for webfiltering in relation to pornography or racism, but it's come to our attention that some libraries around the country are operating webfiltering in such a way as to block websites concerned with illegal drugs. This has resulted in http://www.ukcia.org and other respected drugs sites being blocked and thus unavailable in some libraries.

Can you tell me:

1: Who has the authority to classify subjects for censorship via webfiltering in libraries and would this be a duty given to local government officers, if so at what level?

2: What web filtering is used in the UK, and how do I discover which sites are being blocked and by which filters in which library?

3: How do I appeal against such censorship and to whom do I appeal?

Drugs maybe illegal, talking about them isn't.

Sincerely

Derek Williams
Webteam UKCIA
http://www.ukcia.org