The Catholic University of America briefly banned the popular social media website Reddit for adult content, then unblocked it after students complained they used it for research.
Karna Lozoya, a spokeswoman for the Northeast D.C. college, said students returning from winter break on Monday found Reddit blocked from Wi-Fi networks. She blamed an automated monitoring system flagging it “during a routine scan as a popular site for viewing pornographic content.”
“Recognizing the legitimate uses of Reddit.com, access to the site has been restored to the campus network,” Ms. Lozoya said Wednesday in an emailed statement. “However, the University will continue to monitor the increased popularity of Reddit for viewing exploitative and degrading content.”
She noted that the automated content filter arose from a 2019 internet policy that banned hundreds of adult websites at the recommendation of the Student Government Association.
On Tuesday, student senators introduced a resolution to audit the policy and “immediately restore access” to Reddit.
The resolution insisted that students rely on Reddit’s community discussion forums for research help with computer science coding, nursing licensure exams and engineering troubleshooting.
Student Sen. Felipe Avila, a senior nursing major who introduced the legislation, said he expects it to pass later this month as students continue to push for transparency regarding the internet filters.
“They refuse to divulge which third-party filters they use or what automation is making these decisions, leaving students to wonder if this ’algorithm’ even exists or if it’s just a shield for manual censorship,” Mr. Avila said Wednesday.
He shared an email he received from Catholic University tech support that suggested Reddit also posed security threats.
“When I checked with our security, they said that it was blocked because of certain content on the platform and also because of phishing and malicious links that are on that site,” Michael Jacobs, a service desk worker, wrote in the email dated Monday.
The Washington Times reached out to Reddit for comment.
It remains unclear whether Catholic University intends to explore revised content filters that could ban adult material and malicious links on the website while leaving other areas intact.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a Philadelphia free-speech group, has called on the school to remove the filters entirely.
“I recognize the student government supported the initial imposition of a ban on adult websites, but the reality is these filters will be imperfect,” said Dominic Coletti, a FIRE program officer. “They’re going to add websites that have adult content but aren’t primarily dedicated to it.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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