I once worked for an organization that installed a filtering program on its computer network. I remember my surprise and frustration the first time I tried to access my writing on gay health issues and received the warning: “Access denied: pornography.” I had to laugh when my colleague, working to arrange new financing for her home, got blocked for trying to access a “gambling” site.

Certainly the employer was trying to keep idle employees from viewing sites of questionable virtue and in no way meant to deny access to health content or the latest mortgage rates. The decision to filter belonged to the employer, who owned the network, after all. But the good news was that I could hop online at home, or stop at an Internet café, to get the information I was looking for.

But what happens when a government mandates filtering of Web sites, including any with LGBT content?

Sitting here in New York, it’s hard to imagine. But an AP article from May 18, 2007, paints a sobering picture. OpenNet Initiative, a partnership of universities who analyze Internet filtering and surveillance practices, studied 40 countries and the Palestinian territories and found that at least 25 countries block content for political, social, or other reasons. As for censorship of LGBT content specifically, several Middle Eastern countries were found to be the worst offenders.

For communications professionals, it’s important to keep in mind that while the Internet mostly delivers on its promise to be a borderless network of information and idea sharing, geographic barriers do exist. And while I’m hopeful in time the barriers can be dismantled, I’d encourage you to do your homework before planning to leverage online media to reach LGBT audiences in certain parts of the world.

By the way, if you’d like to know if your favorite Web site is blocked – and by which countries – check out this handy tool.