Critics Say Kids Search Engine Too Judgmental

A search engine designed specifically for children has caused controversy, thanks to its filters. Critics say the creators are wrong in their choice of "bad words" to block.

The site, named "Kiddle," takes several steps to make itself suitable for children. For example, it deletes its entire logs of user searches once every 24 hours and doesn't store any personal details. Of course, this also means it can't refine results like Google does. For example, the search engine won't automatically learn if a user searching for "football results" wants to know about the NFL or a soccer league.

Top Results Hand Picked

Another tool Kiddle uses is to handpick the results. Whatever a user searches for, the first three results will be hand-selected by Kiddle staff and are sites specifically aimed at children. The next four results are handpicked sites that are not aimed at children, but are written in easily understandable language. The big limitation there is that the staff can only pick out sites for a limited number of search terms, so this system won't always work.

The results in eighth place and higher are automatically generated, but are filtered using Google's SafeSearch facility to make sure they are suitable for children. (Source: kiddle.co)

Some Search Terms Blocked

However, the tool that's causing the controversy is not to do with the results, but rather the search itself. Kiddle staff have put together a hand-selected list of terms which they judge unsuitable for children to be searching for. Instead of a results list, these terms simply bring up a message saying "Oops, looks like your query contained some bad words. Please try again!"

In some cases the list simply isn't wide enough to avoid some apparent inconsistencies. Searches for "Pamela Anderson" are blocked on the likely correct assumption that some results with decidedly adult images will get through the filters. However, there's no block on searches for "Fifty Shades of Grey."

In other cases, the choice of terms appears judgmental. Many terms such as "menstruation" and "suicide" are blocked, while the site has only just removed a block on terms such as "gay" and "lesbian" after protests. While the site's editors insist the blocks are needed to prevent the risk of users seeing inappropriate pages that slip through the net, the labeling of "gay" as a "bad word" has not gone down well in all corners. (Source: bbc.co.uk)

One big problem seems to be that the site is lumping search-related circumstances together, and thus blocking searches which might otherwise be useful and informative for pubescent teenagers,  but inappropriate for an elementary school pupil.

What's Your Opinion?

Was the site right to block all searches for terms such as "gay" and "lesbian"? Should it allow all terms and instead focus on filtering the results? Is there any point to such a search tool when many kids can figure out how to bypass parental controls and search elsewhere?