"Controversial Opinions" to be Blocked on TSA Employee Computers
The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) recently sent out a mass email to all of its employees. The employees received a notice that their internet access at work would begin to be limited. Yes, government employees would have some sort of restriction on their internet browsing while at work. While this in itself is no cause for outrage, as we all suffer through the pain of an annoying firewall at work, one of the categories of types of websites being blocked was "Controversial Opinions."
Not only did this cause a stir in the press, netting tons of comments citing free speech and spouting threats of communism, but it loudly shouted at the top of the Drudge Report this morning.
But is this something we should actually be outraged over? This is the government after all; based on their track record of efficiency, should TSA employees really give a crap? I suppose it would have to depend on what the TSA I.T. department classifies as "controversial opinions," on which they have not made a statement. Nor should they have to. No matter how much some of you conspiracy theorists want it to be, this isn't communist China.
Maybe I'm being naive. Then I think about the sites that my company blocks. They block most blogs, which may or may not contain "controversial opinions." They block sites that have outgoing links to porn, tons of curse words and so on. Mostly it's the blogs though - that's where the umbrella "controversial opinion" is coming into play. Basically, the TSA used the wrong phrasing for their blanket classification. Instead of saying "inappropriate content" they said "controversial opinions."
Though on the other hand, they were very specific about the other types of sites they will be blocking, so perhaps they are just as specific about "controversial opinions." The other items being blocked are; chat/messaging, criminal activity, extreme violence (including cartoon violence) and gruesome content, and gaming. Wait, that's not specific. That's all the stuff you aren't supposed to be doing at work anyhow.
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