On the Internet, a block or ban is a technical measure intended to restrict access to information or resources. Blocking and its inverse, unblocking, may be implemented by the owners of computers using software. Some countries, including China and Singapore, block access to certain news information. In the United States, the Children's Internet Protection Act requires schools receiving federal funded discount rates for Internet access to install software that blocks obscene content, pornography, and, where applicable, content "harmful to minors".
Blocking may also refer to denying access to a web server based on the IP address of the client machine. In certain websites, including social networks such as Facebook or editable databases like Wikimedia projects and other wikis, users can apply blocks (based in either IP number or account) on other users deemed undesirable to prevent them from performing certain actions. Blocks of this kind may occur for several reasons and produce different effects: in social networks, users can unrestrictedly block other users, typically by preventing them from sending messages or viewing the blocker's information or profile. Privileged users can apply blocks that affect the access of the undesirables to the entire website.
Blocking is used by moderators and administrators of social media and forums to deny access to users that have broken their rules and will likely do so again, in order to ensure a peaceful and orderly discussion place. Common reasons for blocking are spamming, trolling, and flaming. Some criticize cases of the use of bans by administrators of large websites, such as Twitter, saying that these bans may be politically or financially motivated. However, websites have a legal right to decide who is allowed to post, and users often respond by "voting with their feet" and going to a place where the administrators see their behavior as acceptable.
Video Block (Internet)
Effects
Blocked users may be completely unable to access all or part of a site's content, which is usually the case when censoring or filtering mechanisms are responsible for the block. Under a stealth ban, a user is given the false impression that their content is still being posted to the site, when in reality it is being hidden from all other users.
Maps Block (Internet)
Evasion
Ban evasion is the act of attempting to get around a ban, whether temporary or permanent, on a website.
Ban evaders typically use an alternate email address to create another account on the site they were banned from, usually changing the name or email to try to hide the fact that the new account and the banned account was created by the same person.
When someone is caught ban-evading, both the new account and any other alt accounts they may have are banned. If the original ban was temporary, it is usually changed to a permaban. Sometimes, the user's IP address may be banned as well so the user cannot access the site or create new accounts. Wikipedia has both administrative policies and tools to detect ban evasion, which is often characterized as a sockpuppet.
Some sites may remove all but a few traces of the ban-evader. TV Tropes and Wikipedia, for example, may mass-delete any pages created by a ban-evader.
Ban evasion can be detected by tracing a user's IP address. If two accounts are using the same IP address, it could be a sign of ban evasion. Also, the use of a VPN, shown by rapid, drastic changes of IP address by the same user in a short period of time, can also be a sign that the user was trying to get around a ban. Ban evasion can also be spotted if posts or other contributions from two accounts look the same or similar, or on sites where the same email can be associated with multiple accounts, identical or similar emails can be a sign of ban evasion. Users who have been permanently banned for ban evasion may not be able to appeal their ban, which is the case on sites such as TV Tropes.
See also
- Internet censorship
- IP blocking
- Ban (law)
- Stealth banning
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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