With the internet at our fingertips on any number of devices, it is all too easy for anyone and everyone to access excessive amounts of information, through text, images, and videos. But while in many ways this is a blessing, it can also be a curse.
In today's digital age, ensuring the online safety of children has become a top priority for parents. Parental control apps with web filtering features offer a valuable solution by enabling parents to block inappropriate websites and create a safe browsing environment for their children.
So why should parents use a web content filtering solution? And how is it used to block harmful websites?
What Is Web Filtering?
Web filtering, or web content filtering, is a technology that scans website content and blocks access to inappropriate or objectionable material. This technology can analyze web pages in real-time and identify keywords, images, or categories that violate pre-defined guidelines. FamilyKeeper’s new web content filtering feature, Web Protection, utilizes this technology as part of its mission to help kids safely navigate the online world.
Why Should You Use A Web Filtering Solution?
The internet provides a wealth of information and resources but also exposes children to potential risks, offensive content, and inappropriate online behavior. Apps like the FamilyKeeper parental control app use a web filtering solution that serves as a vital tool to mitigate these risks and create a secure online experience for children.
‘Web Protection’ is FamilyKeeper’s internet filtering feature, allowing parents to block access to websites that contain explicit content, violence, adult material, or other age-inappropriate material. This ensures that children are protected from harmful or disturbing content while browsing the internet.
Web Protection’s web filtering also allows parents to define boundaries for their child's online activities. By selectively blocking unwanted content, including certain websites or categories of websites, parents can guide their children toward age-appropriate content and ensure they stay within safe online spaces.
Web Protection also enhances your family’s cybersecurity by helping to prevent online threats. Web Protection features can help safeguard children against various cyber threats, including malware, phishing, or scam websites. As ReasonLabs founder & CTO Andrew Newman discussed in a recent article, kids can be naive when it comes to online security. By reducing their exposure to potentially malicious sites that may contain these threats, parents can reduce the risk of their children inadvertently falling victim to online scams or downloading harmful software.
The Best Family Internet Filter - FamilyKeeper’s Web Protection
Parental control apps offer different methods to block inappropriate websites. FamilyKeeper’s Web Protection feature utilizes these popular approaches to effectively implement internet content filtering:
- Website blacklisting: FamilyKeeper maintains a pre-compiled list of inappropriate websites or categories of websites. Parents can then select and block specific websites or import external website blacklists to ensure comprehensive protection.
- Category-based filtering: FamilyKeeper offers the ability to block entire categories of websites, such as adult content, gambling, violence, or social networking. By selecting the relevant categories, parents can ensure that their child's browsing experience aligns with their values and age-appropriate guidelines.
- Customized blocking: Advanced parental control apps like FamilyKeeper enable parents to create customized rules for blocking websites. This includes blocking specific URLs, keywords, or combinations of words to prevent access to targeted content.
- Regular updates and monitoring: By regularly updating web filtering solutions and reviewing the blocked websites' logs, a parental control app like FamilyKeeper can stay up-to-date with new websites and emerging online threats, to ensure effective protection.
Kids Internet Filtering Options With FamilyKeeper’s Web Protection
FamilyKeeper’s parental control web filtering feature allows parents to monitor the websites their kids are surfing, and block the ones they’d rather they didn’t view. This dynamic new feature shields your kids from content that’s age-inappropriate, offensive, or dangerous. Web Protection offers parents three different web content filtering options:
- Filter Search Results: Block explicit results on all major search engines.
- Block Website Categories: Restrict access to specific categories of websites, including adult, gambling, and dating themes.
- YouTube Restricted Mode: Restrict which videos kids can view and hide hurtful comments.
Parents can also manage their internet filtering service by blocking or unblocking specific websites. If your child tries to view an inappropriate or harmful site, you will receive an alert.
How to Block Inappropriate Websites - Best Internet Filter For Families
To learn how to block inappropriate websites on phones using FamilyKeeper parental control app, follow these steps:
- STEP 1: Download and install the FamilyKeeper Parent app on iOS or Android
- STEP 2: Register an account and add your child’s details.
- STEP 3: Download and install the FamilyKeeper child app on iOS or Android and pair the apps.
Parents must then enable the relevant DNS web filtering permissions in order to activate Web Protection:
- STEP 4: Click “Open Settings”.
- STEP 5: Select “General”.
- STEP 6: Select “VPN, DNS & Device Management”.
- STEP 7: Choose "FamilyKeeper DNS".
Parents can then customize which websites or categories of websites they wish to block using the Web Protection feature:
- STEP 1: On the Parent App, go to ‘My Kids’.
- STEP 2: Click on the Web Protection card.
- STEP 3: Customize your parental controls web filtering - you can toggle on / off filter search results, YouTube restricted mode, and website categories.
4 Tips To Discuss Internet Content Filtering With Your Kids
We can’t fully control what our kids see. Some of your child’s friends will have smartphones with no parental control. And these friends could still show your kid inappropriate content from their own phone. Full-on banning doesn’t necessarily work but according to the American Psychological Association, keeping the channels of communication open does.
Before you enable web content filtering software on your child’s device, take a look at our top tips:
- Don’t ban all social media: It’s a vital tool for social interaction these days. Limiting it is fine. But banning it will isolate your child - both online and offline. It’s far better to carefully monitor what your child is browsing, rather than forcing them to go cold turkey.
- Distinguish between curiosity and interest: Your child may access an inappropriate website but this doesn’t mean they endorse the content. They may simply be curious. Use this curiosity as an opportunity to talk to your kids and build trust.
- Education: Help your child understand the potential dangers and risks they may encounter online, such as cyberbullying, inappropriate content, and online predators. Explain that web content filtering is a proactive measure to reduce these risks.
- Teach responsible internet use: Emphasize the importance of responsible online behavior, such as being cautious about sharing personal information, avoiding engaging with strangers online, and treating others respectfully. Reinforce the idea that web content filtering is not about limiting their freedom, but about keeping them safe and guiding them towards age-appropriate content.
Web filtering solutions like FamilyKeeper’s Web Protection feature are a crucial component of parental control apps, empowering parents to create a safe and secure online environment for their children. By blocking inappropriate websites and implementing web content filtering mechanisms, parents can shield their children from explicit content and online threats, and establish digital boundaries.
It's important for parents to choose a reliable parental control app like FamilyKeeper, which has the best family internet filter and offers a robust Web Protection feature - and excitingly, it’s now available on both iOS and Android. Together, we can ensure a safer digital world for our children.
For more information on FamilyKeeper’s Web Protection kids internet filtering and other excellent family protection features, visit us at: www.familykeeper.reasonlabs.com/features. You can also visit the FamilyKeeper Facebook page and join our parenting community group Digital World Parenting for more tips and advice from experts and other parents.
