MOBILE PHONE COMPANIES ARE CENSORING AND DEFAMING MEN'S RIGHTS SITES

Recently a number of commenters here suggested mobile phone companies in the UK were blocking some of the best men's rights sites so I've taken the time to investigate this issue further.

I appreciate that sites supporting men's equality sometimes don't mince their words, but the peaceful, pro-equality message of the sites campaigning for civil rights of the most disadvantaged people in our society is crystal clear and it's rare to ever see any inappropriate views and certainly nothing worthy of blocking (other than quotes of radical feminists of course).

I discovered that O2, one of the largest mobile communications providers in the UK has a "url checker" allowing anyone to see their blocking policy for a particular site. Essentially they have 3 levels of classification a total block, a "default block" (whereby people can only access a site if you request all censorship be turned off) and then a parental block.

I've checked a number of perfectly innocent men's rights sites, and somehow the company have decided to not only censor them by default, they even go as far as classifying them as "hate sites". Victims of these smears include the excellent antimisandry.com, angryharry.com and theantifeminist.com Furthermore I am yet to find a single misandrist site blocked in any form despite their content clearly being much easier to classify as sexist and hateful. Even many of your average Mumsnet or Guardian posts/articles are far worse than anything you'd find at any of the above sites as are the utterances of your average "equality" minister. There are indications that T-mobile have the same polices as O2 and I personally use that comapny so tried all teh above sites on my phone. All 3 attempts had the sites blocked saying i needed to be over 18 to access them. Again, I was unable to achieve such a message when accessing any radical feminist hate sites.

We need to give these companies the benefit of the doubt for now and hope this is a mistake. For now I'd ask that people check as many sites as possible and email them to complain about their censorship. A third party campaign against mobile censorship has a reporting facility here and the open rights groups also address the issue.

Even the writers over at Biased BBC have also been victim of this censorship so there appears to be a clear pattern emerging in terms of the type of thought-policing going on here.

Update - as an afterthought I also decided to check the status of this very blog on the O2 checker even though we're clearly on the moderate, professional and cautious side of the movement. To my horror and surprise even this very blog is classes as a hate site in spite of how cautious we've been in the language used in articles and in the commenting policy. Not one single post here is remotely controversial or hateful. I wrote on this issue here as I thought it was a safe place guaranteed to be free form censorship due to our policies but we've still become victims. We're blocked on t-mobile too, so that's now four of the most popular MRA sites blocked by these companies by default. This really is quite disturbing.

Further updates will be added here as more censorship and defamation is uncovered:

- O2 and T-mobile blocking: hereticalsex.blogspot.com and counterfem.blogspot.com

by John Kimble

Comments

[ian]

Well I brought this to your attention while I was doing all my other work, but glad to see your extended research into them actually being classified as "hate" sites come out. Goes to show you why "speaking nicely" and worrying about offending some feminist gets you blocked and called a hate site anyway.

Just like I was saying. It gets you nowhere, except blocked anyway it seems, so may as well turn the heat up, get together in numbers and stop falling for the chivalry, it gets you nowhere.

[ian]

P.S Three blocks Manwomanmyth, antimisandry, hereitcalsex out of those mentioned above.

Might be a good idea to get together list all the sites we can think of, check them all on each carrier and then publish a chart of all the carriers and what sites they block for everybody's reference and use as a "point maker" Especially noting those which have been classified as hate sites etc.

[ian]

For anyone who does not know this site updates daily fresh web based proxies to bypass these blocks:

http://osdir.com/ml/daily-web-proxies/

[Anonymous]

Install OrBot on your mobile and access the sites through Tor: https://www.torproject.org/

Note https not http as the Tor site will be blocked otherwise.

[dave]

I find it wise to stay away from networks like Tor, "anonymous".

[mananon]

pellebilling.com is a website run by a Swedish academic of the same name, and this isn't even an explicitly mra centred website, and even this is now blocked by three. It must be said this is a more neutral site with a more sober tone than your typical mra site with a distinct lack of expletives and three still block it. So another example of a good site being censored.

Using a proxy-based browser can get you around the censorship, but the principal still holds - that a mobile phone operator sees fit to decide for you what is and isn't suitable, and gives themselves the right to decide for you what you can and can't access.

[ian]

Your quite right Mananon, the issue is MRM sites being blocked and unlawfully being defined as "hate sites" while Misandrist sites and feminist sites who are far worse are not. It is quite clear it is deliberate as this is not possible as a "random happening", if it was random, it would not be so gender site specific would it?

I would wonder why the MRM sites being blocked are not getting together as we speak and present a legal demand for the removal of blocks and the defamation to the carriers. Thus addressing the problem and gaining some P.R for the issue in the media maybe?

I suppose that would be to much to expect though?

[mananon]

I agree ian, but at least now word is getting around. This site has started to spread awareness of the issue, and that will hopefully filter around the mra-osphere, and then we shall see some action being taken.

It must be emphasised, as a clear example of the double-standard at play, that sites such as rad fem hub, feministing, and others, remain free and un-censored. This isn't about harsh language, but against whom it is being directed. That's bigotry.

[ian]

I have been on about this for Two years now, I informed Angry Harry he was being blocked back then, nobody listened previously and it was met with silence and rolling bushes.

I am glad to see it is now finally being picked up and spread about with a louder voice but as womansayswhat proclaims, "men should be shouting their issues to get heard". Lets make sure it does not go quiet until it is remedied shall we? Make sure (Skimmington or John K) that we get a list together of what carrier is blocking what site and what ones are being listed as hate sites and make sure all sysops know about it and get together on it. Post the issue on every site we all can!

[ian]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9272283/Drink-driver-who-caused-death-of-girl-before-she-was-born-jailed-in-landmark-case.html

So this illegal immigrant supposedly causes the death of an Unborn GIRL and gets 6 years, yet women murder unborn children every minute of the day with abortion for convenience and that is just fine?

To make matters even worse at the same time ANOTHER illegal immigrant kills a grown Man, father of four and gets only 2 years?!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2145700/Illegal-immigrant-driving-licence-killed-father-motorway-crash-falling-asleep-wheel.html?ITO=1490

Our law is sick and so perverted it is untrue.

[ZimbaZumba]

The URL checker at

http://urlchecker.o2.co.uk/urlcheck.aspx

has been taken down. Other taken down MRA sites identified include:-

Default Full Block as Hate Sites

http://NCFM.org
http://therightsofman.typepad.co.uk
http://whatmenthinkofwomen.blogspot.com/
http://antimisandry.com
http://news.mensactivism.org/
http://www.mens-rights.net/
http://www.angryharry.com/
http://theantifeminist.com/

If you subscribe to O2 please check these and other sites. May may be rectifying the problem though.

Discussion on Reddit as well at

http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/tqno3/uk_mobile_phone_companies_are_blocking_mra_sites/

[fidelbogen]

Thank you for bringing this issue to light, as well as letting me know that my own blog (the Counter-Feminist) has been put under this ban.

Yes, when you speak harshly about FEMINISM, it apparently makes you a "hate group".

[ian]

Actually when you speak harshly about feminism it seems some MRM sites are assisting this.

[mananon]

@ZimbaZumba, so far most of those sites are still accessable via three UK, so I should consider myself lucky; only http://www.antimisandry.com/ has been blocked. It seems O2 are the worst by far at the moment.

[ian]

Mananon, antimisandry.com is the only one blocked out of his list to me here on 3 on my phone. Manwomanmyth another very important site is also blocked.

[ian]

On another note: One has to ask: Why is this CDC research being shoved under the carpet, why are the thousands of charities milking millions of pounds out of false propaganda all thriving, why is government and media constantly lying about the true figures?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-alR0l8uwOsw/T68kDN2hCUI/AAAAAAAAAhk/95jwMC83iDM/s1600/CDCfindings.jpg

[dave]

I'm sorry did someone say this blog was a mainstream hotbed of MRM debate?

Excuse me while I take a piss.

[ian]

Here is a test of that:

Lets see how many white knight men defend this violent woman. Let us see where the voices are with this matter, show the public a fanny, a cause and the law turns a blind eye while the media try to make her out as an innocent. As always. Does the cowardly so called MRM?

The law is the law, this is clearly assault...who will stand up for men and who will go quiet and watch football?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2146937/UNCOVERED-The-foxy-face-irate-hunt-saboteur-THAT-road-rage-attack--Nude-model-protagonist-weeks-infamous-YouTube-hit.html?ITO=1490

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Great article just wanted to say click on

"If you think this website needs a different policy, click here" on the O2 website. If enough people click on it they will change it for sure.