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NIU restricting access to some Wikipedia pages - DrTorch - 08-21-2014 10:23 AM
http://betabeat.com/2014/08/university-bans-social-medial-political-content-and-wikipedia-pages-on-dorm-wifi/
Ugh, the stupidity among college admins grows.
RE: NIU restricting access to some Wikipedia pages - HuskieJohn - 08-21-2014 10:34 AM
(08-21-2014 10:23 AM)DrTorch Wrote: http://betabeat.com/2014/08/university-bans-social-medial-political-content-and-wikipedia-pages-on-dorm-wifi/
Ugh, the stupidity among college admins grows.
Try this first...
http://chicagoinno.streetwise.co/2014/08/20/the-story-about-northern-illinois-banning-social-media-is-trending-its-also-completely-false/
RE: NIU restricting access to some Wikipedia pages - DrTorch - 08-21-2014 10:39 AM
(08-21-2014 10:34 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:(08-21-2014 10:23 AM)DrTorch Wrote: http://betabeat.com/2014/08/university-bans-social-medial-political-content-and-wikipedia-pages-on-dorm-wifi/
Ugh, the stupidity among college admins grows.
Um no this is not true. It was a rumor started on reddit.
http://chicagoinno.streetwise.co/2014/08/20/the-story-about-northern-illinois-banning-social-media-is-trending-its-also-completely-false/
Even your article says it's true. In fact what the defenders described is worse than I expected from the betabeat article.
Quote:If a student runs into a filter message, they can submit an appeal.
"We're not blocking academic freedom at all. That's not what this is about"
But as a state institution, there are certain rules that they need to abide by. For example, the University's policy page does ban the use of school resources (like its wifi) "for political activities." Though many interpreted this bullet as a basic violation of student rights, this regulation is only for University employees.
"According to Illinois' Ethic Laws, state employees cannot use state resources for political activities, like the promotion of a candidate," said Palian.
This same reasoning applies to the other bullet that captured the internet's attention, the one about social media prevention. Illinois law states that its employees cannot spend "State time" on social media.
Because NIU is a state institution, it also legally has an obligation to restrict access to sites that promote hatred. In the case of the blocked Wikipedia page that triggered the news firestorm, the reddit user was searching for 'Westboro Baptist Church.' It turns out that this particular wikipedia page linked back to the Church's site and this html "alerted" the new firewall.
RE: NIU restricting access to some Wikipedia pages - HuskieJohn - 08-21-2014 10:50 AM
Definitely a mess.
RE: NIU restricting access to some Wikipedia pages - NIU007 - 08-21-2014 10:52 AM
Not much different than your employer blocking a few internet sites.
RE: NIU restricting access to some Wikipedia pages - DrTorch - 08-21-2014 11:26 AM
(08-21-2014 10:52 AM)NIU007 Wrote: Not much different than your employer blocking a few internet sites.
Uh, it's hugely different.
RE: NIU restricting access to some Wikipedia pages - uakronkid - 08-21-2014 12:10 PM
It's an exercise in futility. You can't stop people from accessing parts of the internet. Just ask China. I bet NIU's IT majors are going to have a field day breaking this thing.
RE: NIU restricting access to some Wikipedia pages - Bull_In_Exile - 08-21-2014 01:50 PM
(08-21-2014 10:52 AM)NIU007 Wrote: Not much different than your employer blocking a few internet sites.
NIU is a state school that kids pay to attend.. This is different..
RE: NIU restricting access to some Wikipedia pages - NIU007 - 08-21-2014 03:48 PM
(08-21-2014 01:50 PM)Bull_In_Exile Wrote:(08-21-2014 10:52 AM)NIU007 Wrote: Not much different than your employer blocking a few internet sites.
NIU is a state school that kids pay to attend.. This is different..
Yea I guess so, I read that too quickly.