Some examples are 404 Not Found or 403 Forbidden. Now, we can add Malfunction 451 “Unavailable for Legal Rationales” code to the list. This really is now an official Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard after acceptance by the IETF HTTP Working Group. And unlike the other error messages, this one tells you precisely why the web page content is being concealed away–censorship, due to legal reasons.

The code 451 may be utilized by a site like Facebook or Twitter, as well as by network firewalls and even Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The thought behind 451 would be to let users understand their government is blocking unique content on a web site or web page.

As web-based services become much more significant in our own lives, authorities in several states are also tracking what’s being shared. And there are repeated examples where legal bodies or authorities have issued orders for social network, a web site or some internet-based content to be blocked.

For instance, a government regulatory body may want to have to block prohibited or torrent media streaming websites, or just censor what they do not enjoy. No matter the main reason, at least the citizens will be aware the site itself is not to be attributed, but the fact that there are “orders” to not reveal content.

Nevertheless, we aren’t completely convinced that Malfunction 451 is a foolproof standard. The kinds of authorities which are not idle censoring web content are more prone to prevent their citizens from seeing the censorship error code. It’s the democratic authorities worldwide who are prone to be receiver to Malfunction 451. Therefore, in case courts or your authorities determine to block access to a torrent website, the ISPs can reveal the 451 error code, instead of the 403 Forbidden code, which does not actually tell much.

However, this is one step in tracking various levels of censorship on internet-based content, all over the world.