Sky porn filter updated after wrongly blocking filesharing news site

Sky has adjusted its 'porn filter' after wrongly blocking a popular news site. Sky broadband customers can once again access torrentfreak.com after the site complained it had been caught up in sweeping security measures targeting file-sharing sites.

"The categorisation of torrentfreak.com has now been updated so that the site will no longer be filtered by Sky Broadband Shield," Sky told this reporter. "If at any time a website owner believes they have been unfairly filtered or miscategorised by Sky Broadband Shield, they can contact Sky and we will look into it as soon as we can."

Sky says it updates the list of blocked sites several times a day.

The Sky Broadband Shield system has three levels, blocking differing amounts of smut and other muckiness for different age groups. A filter aimed at 13-year-olds blocks sites relating to subjects such as porn, suicide and self-harm, and drugs, as well as dating sites and file-sharing sites. A PG filter also blocks online gaming and social networking sites. Like BT, Sky's filter is turned on by default.

It's not the first time innocent sites have been wrongly banned by overzealous filtering: sex education sites are often caught in the net, while anti-piracy measures have seen legitimate sites wrongly blocked in the name of copyright. With glorious irony, one company's porn filter mistakenly blocked the website of an MP who campaigned for it.

For more information on your broadband provider's security features, click on these links for details of the parental controls offered by BT, Virgin Media and Sky.

Are porn filters useful tools to protect your family, or hopelessly outclassed blunt instruments prone to mistakes and misuse? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.