Today, AT&T decided to censor part of the Internet. AT&T unceremoniously and without notification blocked 4chan.org. That's right: AT&T has begun deciding which sites are okay for you and I to view.
A bit of background: 4chan.org is an extremely influential segment of the web population. You've heard of LOLcats? Rick-rolling? Chocolate Rain? Those memes started on 4chan. Despite their influence over net.culture, 4chan is very underground, hidden ... a bit seedy, if you will. But seedy with an ethic. Seedy in kind of a cool, punk rock sort of way. For example, 4chan is home to an online group called Anonymous that isn't afraid to take on Scientology.
Nevertheless, you probably wouldn't bring 4chan home to Mother. NSFW and potty-mouth can be found all over the site.
But I'll be damned if I think AT&T should have the right to censor them. When information can be blanked out memory-hole-style by common carriers, then we have a very serious problem. Where does it stop? Do common carriers have the right to stop the flow of information they find offensive? Who decides what is 'offensive'? What if there is net-speech that criticizes their company and hurts their bottom line?
This is nothing less than the digital equivalent of book-burning. If you are a common carrier -- and you are not China or Iraq -- then you'd better behave in a fashion that supports full, open and transparent communication. This is an extremely stupid move on the part of AT&T and should be vociferously condemned -- no matter what you think of 4chan.
AT&T, I do not need you to tell me what I can view or not view. That is not your place.
True, 4chan is a little dirty. But AT&T censoring them is even dirtier.
If you'd like to follow the next moves of 4chan, which promise to be ... interesting, they've set up a Twitter feed here: http://twitter.com/4chan4ever.
Follow Mark Jeffrey on Twitter: www.twitter.com/markjeffrey
However, AT&T has a long history of lobbying to dismantle Net Neutrality, and they handled this incident terribly by not providing this info sooner: they certainly looked guilty for 24 hours. Whenever Net censorship is suspected, it is good that voices be heard swiftly in protest so that all telcos understand that we will not accept this under any circumstance.
From the 4chan site today:
"... In response, AT&T filtered all traffic to and from our img.4chan.org IPs (which serve /b/ & /r9k/) for their entire network, instead of only the affected customers. AT&T did not contact us prior to implementing the block. Here is their statement regarding the matter.
In the end, this wasn't a sinister act of censorship, but rather a bit of a mistake and a poorly executed, disproportionate response on AT&T's part. Whoever pulled the trigger on blackholing the site probably didn't anticipate [nor intend] the consequences of doing so.
We're glad to see this short-lived debacle has prompted renewed interest and debate over net neutrality and internet censorship—two very important issues that don't get nearly enough attention—so perhaps this was all just a blessing in disguise."
Beyond the implications of net neutrality, I'm surprised that AT&T allowed this to happen. I haven't been able to find a reason why AT&T wanted to block 4chan or would even care that they existed. This obviously wasn't a calculated plan by AT&T. Some poor tech has likely already lost his or her job and will disappear into the ether well before an answer that didn't have a corporate spin on it can be heard.
Seriously, I hate AT&T, with a vengance. They've screwed their employeees, shareholders, customers, and suppliers. They've squandered one of the most admired trademarks on the planet, and turned it into three-letter shorthand for a company that would slam your grandmother with $2-per-minute long distance.
So it pains me to say this:
This story is pure shenanigans. It starts with a very bold accusation, but finishes with a Cavuto - thus avoiding taking responsibility for it. It then quotes various sources of dubious quality, and asserts as fact ("4chan is one of the most influential..") opinions which even us geeks would classify dubious, at best.
Save the cries of censorship for something more severe than what looks like a technical or administrative screwup.