TSA blocks work access to sites with 'controversial' content

The Transportation Security Administration has begun blocking employees' work computers from displaying Web sites that portray “controversial opinion,” according to a report by CBS News.

Additional excluded sites include those with chat or messaging, gaming, criminal activity or “extreme violence,” including cartoon violence and “gruesome content,” CBS reported.

CBS News said it obtained an internal memo dated July 2 distributed to all TSA employees by Emma Garrison-Alexander, assistant administrator for agency's the Office of Information Technology.

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The memo states that as of July 1, TSA employees will no longer have access to five categories of Web sites that have been deemed “inappropriate for government access,” CBS said. The TSA began blocking the sites because some of them violate the agency's employee responsibilities and conduct policy, the memo said.

The memo did not state how TSA officials will define “controversial opinion” or how it would determine if a Web site contains a controversial opinion.

TSA officials did not respond to a request for comment today.