The arguments that apply to offline censorship and filtering apply to online censorship and filtering. Is it better to have free access to information or should be protected from what is considered by a governing body as harmful, indecent or illicit. The issue of access by minors is also a major concern.

Many companies restrict their employees’ access to cyberspace by blocking some sites, which are relevant only to personal usage and therefore destructive to productivity. On a larger scale, governments also create large firewalls, which censor and filter access to certain information available online which is often from foreign countries to their citizens and anyone within their borders.