Mozilla sets out its proposed principles for content blocking

With Apple embracing ad blocking and the likes of AdBlock Plus proving more popular than ever, content blocking is making the headlines at the moment. There are many sides to the debate about blocking ads -- revenue for sites, privacy concerns for visitors, speeding up page loads times (Google even allows for the display of ads with its AMP Project), and so on -- but there are no signs that it is going to go away.

Getting in on the action, Mozilla has set out what it believes are some reasonable principles for content blocking that will benefit everyone involved. Three cornerstones have been devised with a view to ensuring that content providers and content consumers get a fair deal, and you can help to shape how they develop.

One of the catalysts for the principles is avoiding a situation that creates "new gatekeepers who can pick winners and losers in the publishing space or who favor their own content over others'". Mozilla appears to be trying to be as impartial as possible with its suggestions and is quick to point out that this is not an exercise in defining good content and bad content. Rather it is an attempt to design a framework that defines how and why content could be blocked.

Mozilla's proposed principles are:

Content Neutrality: Content blocking software should focus on addressing potential user needs (such as on performance, security, and privacy) instead of blocking specific types of content (such as advertising).

Transparency & Control: The content blocking software should provide users with transparency and meaningful controls over the needs it is attempting to address.

Openness: Blocking should maintain a level playing field and should block under the same principles regardless of source of the content. Publishers and other content providers should be given ways to participate in an open Web ecosystem, instead of being placed in a permanent penalty box that closes off the Web to their products and services.

The company is looking for feedback from people about the proposals. It is encouraging people to voice their opinions using the #contentblocking hashtag.

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