TSA to Block Websites that Contain Controversial Opinions
July 4th, 2010Via: CBS:
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is blocking certain websites from the federal agency’s computers, including halting access by staffers to any Internet pages that contain a “controversial opinion,” according to an internal email obtained by CBS News.
The email was sent to all TSA employees from the Office of Information Technology on Friday afternoon.
It states that as of July 1, TSA employees will no longer be allowed to access five categories of websites that have been deemed “inappropriate for government access.”
The categories include:
Chat/Messaging
Controversial opinion
Criminal activity
Extreme violence (including cartoon violence) and gruesome content
Gaming
The email does not specify how the TSA will determine if a website expresses a “controversial opinion.”
There is also no explanation as to why controversial opinions are being blocked, although the email stated that some of the restricted websites violate the Employee Responsibilities and Conduct policy.
The TSA did not return calls seeking comment by publication time.
I notice that porn sites are not on the list… apparently it’s still ok to get a wank on the government’s nickel.
That these folks are at work surfing the web *at all* is just as big a story to me. Controversial opinions? how about sitting around *reading opinion pages* in the first place, regardless of content?
Its been my experience that full internet access at work is severely detrimental to productivity. that people now think its some sort of right that the employer must provide… well, that’s silly.
Well, we wouldn’t want the workers to get *too* productive, because then we wouldn’t need to employ half of them. If anything in these harsh economic times, we should be looking for ways to make each worker slightly less efficient so that we can justify employing more of them. Go on, slack off at work, it’s your patriotic duty.
My work site is blocking access to the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration website.
This is intra-governmemtal warfare I GUESS!!!
I dom’t get it. Acess to a dot gow website blocked by another dot gov.
Doesn’t make sense, but it is what it is.
Is this internacnne warfare already occuring?
Yikes, this is a thing I’ve encountered that makes me want to stay in bed and under the covers as long as possible each and every day of the past five months.
I experience the personnel policies and procedures on the books of my fed agency being violated each and every day. Those at the top of the food chain breaking the rules with impunity, when people like me told that I must abide by the rules.but I see people up on the food chain of my agency violating the rules every day in my work life.
Its people like me that don’t speak up that contributed to oil spill in the gulf.
But its very scary to even consider becomimg a squeaky wheel.
The beauty of my day waw laying under the giant oak tree on the grass with my sister. My Dad went to church every Sunday and after working 6 days a week, he really took a day off. Sitting under that oak tree, reading the Sunday paper, or meditating or napping.
I realized today that I am literally and physically home. When that sinks in, I am going to gain strength from my roots and expose fraud. I just need time to gain the strength to do so.
My heart goes out to the to the poor blokes working for the Minerals and Materials Management Service (MMS) in the US Dept of Interior. Those poor clods in the same boat I AM IN, but with more dire consequences,
How to keep your livelihood going when you feel in your bones that you are going to fast beome dead meat when you consider confronting the .gov system. Not doing so is what created the oil spill in the Gulf.
Damnded if you do, damnded if you don’t.
@Eileen:
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
yes, i can empathise…