Council of Europe sets filtering "best practices"

The Council of Europe (separate from the European Union) has released a document that proposes filtering standards that balance concerns over pornography, violence, and racism online with freedom of expression and an open Internet. The Council contends that filters could legitimately be deployed in public places such as schools or libraries, but that strict limits should be placed on such filtering to prevent it from becoming overbroad.

The Council makes several recommendations:
* users must be told when content is being filtered;
* they must have a simple way to challenge the accuracy of the filter; and
* manual overrides should be put in place when practical so that users can quickly get access to blocked material.

The Council assumes that some sort of Internet filtering will take place, whether at home or school or even statewide, and one of its concerns is to push for filtering standards and interoperability. See this article for more information.