New DNS Filtering Policy

[jamiep39]

Another negative impact of the new filtering policy that we just ran into with Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat blocked is that it makes it difficult to encourage members to share short clips/photos/etc. at our YSA activities (dances, the huge New Years Eve party we are about to have, etc.) on those social media channels without having to explain to them that they are blocked on the Church internet and that they need to use mobile data. Bandwidth isn't an issue at all in our building, so if those services are being blocked out of bandwidth concerns it would be nice to have an alternate filtering policy for higher bandwidth meetinghouses.

Another issue caused by blocking Twitter specifically is that at a lot of CES devotionals they ask members to share thoughts or questions on Twitter with #cesdevo, which then are sometimes read during the broadcast. If Twitter is blocked at general church meetinghouses, members watching from non-CES buildings (Seminaries/Institutes are on a different filtering policy) would not be able to participate using the meetinghouse internet, thus not being able to use the meetinghouse internet for a church purpose.

[nmecantwin73]

...Another issue caused by blocking Twitter specifically is that at a lot of CES devotionals they ask members to share thoughts or questions on Twitter with #cesdevo, which then are sometimes read during the broadcast. If Twitter is blocked at general church meetinghouses, members watching from non-CES buildings (Seminaries/Institutes are on a different filtering policy) would not be able to participate using the meetinghouse internet, thus not being able to use the meetinghouse internet for a church purpose.

I have noticed in our meetinghouse that many are just bypassing the wifi and using their own data plan to access those sites on their phones. Though it is nice to have the wifi available, I think this is the answer (if they are using phones with data available).

[Mikerowaved]

I think another big oversight is many of our buildings are used as operation centers during emergencies, and certain social media feeds, particularly Twitter, are invaluable during emergencies for keeping informed of official information. Of course, for emergencies the firewall can be bypassed, but the person(s) with the access and know-how might not always be available.

[russellhltn]

I think another big oversight is many of our buildings are used as operation centers during emergencies, and certain social media feeds, particularly Twitter, are invaluable during emergencies for keeping informed of official information. Of course, for emergencies the firewall can be bypassed, but the person(s) with the access and know-how might not always be available.

Unless the provided modem is also a router, I don't know as you can bypass the firewall - replace it with another maybe. But doing that may disable all the church WAPs. In that situation, I'd suggest calling CHQ and having he settings changed. They might be able to do that on a emergency basis.

[johnshaw]

The simple truth around all these comments is that wards and stakes are utilizing internet services in creative ways. As they've been instructed by those we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators. If any given Sunday those services may not be available they will stop being used. This sends very different messages and makes people think the church has fiefdoms at odds with each other, one hand not knowing what the other is doing, etc...

What nobody has mentioned is that this really only impacts the poor, and frugal. Everyone else can just switch to their data plans.

[marvinc]

The building, and internet, are used by many people every day of the week and the new DNS filtering policy is impacting them. For example, a seminary class has used https://getkahoot.com/ as a way to keep students interested and the lesson fun. However, it appears this site is being filtered. How do get an exception for this application?

[johnshaw]

It's been a while since it was announced, but the Assistant Clerk, Stake Technology Specialist has the assignment to take these requests and relay them to the church. I searched back and found a notification from a year ago about changes to the DNS filtering.

Here was that message in TXT, and explains how to get the change made, if it will be allowed.

Meetinghouse Internet Change
The Internet filtering service for meetinghouses in your stake will change next week between February 10 and February 14, 2014. This change applies to all of your meetinghouses with Cisco 800 series Meetinghouse Firewalls.

The main difference will be the page displayed when attempting to access a restricted site, which will now look like this:
Inappropriate content will continue to be blocked. YouTube will also continue to be blocked. Official Church videos are available at LDS.org, mormon.org, mormonchannel.com, and the Gospel Library mobile applications.

To request access to a blocked site, click the Report an Inaccuracy button.

Please communicate this change to your stake president. Encourage him to inform other leaders in the stake.
If you have problems or questions related to Meetinghouse Internet, please contact the Global Service Center.
Meetinghouse technology feedback may be sent to mht@ldschurch.org.

-The Meetinghouse Technology Coordination Team

[bradhokanson]

@marvinc. getkahoot.com and kahoot.it were requested to be allowed in late November and are currently in the LDS Meetinghouse whitelist. If you have having issues, PM with specific details.

[jamiep39]

No scheduled meetings right now but I would hope after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Has any additional discussion happened on this topic from the CHQ side? I feel like a lot of members in our stake have stopped using the building internet entirely and resorted to mobile data even for church-related purposes because of some of the frequently used services that are blocked. It's also made several social media sharing opportunities awkward when we had to tell the members that they couldn't use the Church-provided internet to share their Church-related thoughts and experiences. I also don't know what to say to people who ask me why Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat are blocked while Facebook is not. (Not that I think Facebook should be blocked. Please don't do that.) It's especially confusing that Twitter is blocked even though so many official Church events make heavy use of it (CES devotionals, General Conference, etc.) It sends mixed messages that we're saying "use these inspired tools" (Bednar) but also saying "you can't use these inspired tools at the church".

The ideal situation in my opinion from a member usability and usefulness perspective would be to revert the filtering policy to the previous policy before all of these changes were made. I can understand reserving bandwidth for church purposes on Sunday, but I feel like the cost of services lost and member confusion outweighs the benefits. This is especially true in our YSA building. We haven't seen any noticeable bandwidth changes since the new policy has been in place.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[drepouille]

Any meetinghouse internet service that is paid for by the FM is likely restricted to "basic" speed to minimize monthly budget expenditures. In a perfect world, the FM would pay for all internet service. However, companies that provide DSL bundled services, such as Windstream, often refuse to send separate bills to the FM and the stake. In my stake, DSL services paid for by the stake may be increased to higher speeds, while internet services paid for by the FM are limited to basic speeds.
Our stake has 8 meetinghouses. Two have cablemodems, five have DSL, and one has a wireless connection to the ISP's tower. Although the two cablemodems can easily provide 50MB or 100MB service, the FM pays for the cheapest available service from Cox, which I believe is 5MB. When I was the stake clerk, I was able to increase the DSL service from 1MB to 6MB at one meetinghouse because the stake paid that bill.
One meetinghouse in my stake is shared by three wards. The 1MB DSL service in that building is always maxed out on Sundays. When people complain, we just tell them that the internet service exists for the administrative computers, and they are not supposed to be streaming videos for their lessons and such.