404 Day Date in the current year: April 4, 2024
Almost everyday you see a 404 error or Not found message while surfing the Internet. This error occurs when your computer is not able to communicate with a server or server can't find what was requested. Since the decimal form of April 4 coincides with 404, this day has become 404 Day.April 4 is a special day for Electronic Frontier Foundation, that organizes a day of action against censorship in public and school libraries. According to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) public and school libraries have to censor and restrict access to the websites, that might include obscene or pornography images, harmful to minor images in exchange for federal funding.
Unfortunately, the filters block the constitutionally protected websites, like the websites with vitally important health information, websites of art museums. Due to keyword blocking the filters also block the content, that can not be legally prohibited, for instance, medical information about breast cancer and chicken breasts. At the same time filters are not always reliable, since they do not block thumbnails of an adult sexual nature.
404 Day action against censorship in libraries should raise public awareness of filters and unnecessary restrictions. The bloggers and librarians can write about their experiences with blocked websites, Internet filtering and CIPA to help others find out how to deal with filters.
Remind me with Google CalendarCategory
- Unofficial Holidays, Other Observances
Country
- USA
Tags
- 404 day, children's internet protection act, cipa, 404 error, electronic frontier foundation, internet filters, censorship