The precise number of websites blocked in Belgium is unknown. Blocking may vary from one Internet Service Provider (ISP) to another with some sites blocked by some ISPs and not by others.
Contents
- Verification
- Court ordered blocked websites
- Unilaterally blocked websites
- Gambling regulations blocked websites
- References
Site blocks in Belgium are at this moment based on DNS Hijacking which has the possibilities of circumventing using proxies.
Verification
There is no official complete register of blocked sites. Blocked content includes:
The only reported technique used by Belgian ISPs to block such websites is DNS Hijacking where requests toward the blocked websites would be redirected to a government owned web page: the "StopPage".
Court-ordered blocked websites
These are the sites explicitly listed and blocked by court cases in Belgium.
Unilaterally blocked websites
These are the sites blocked by some ISPs in Belgium without any known related court-order. It is believed that these blockings are the result of pressure by the Belgian Anti-piracy Federation (BAF) who threatened ISPs of heavy legal fees should they not comply with their request. The list of ISPs below is probably incomplete as each ISP can decide individually on the matter.
Gambling regulations blocked websites
The list of blocked gambling websites is the only official publicly available and maintained blocklist in Belgium. The list is available on the official Belgian Gaming Commission website.