MSD blocks ‘teen’ emails
Is it really “best practice” to block emails with words that MSD clients might use or to encourage people to use a more expensive and inconvenient channel?
‘Teen’ triggers email firewall
The Social Development Ministry is blocking any emails with the word – or its plural, “teens” – from getting through, because it is often associated with advertising for online pornography.
The word is on a blacklist of terms blocked by the ministry, meaning that only email addresses on a “white list” can receive messages containing those words.
Mr Habershon said the ministry used “best practice anti-spam technology and processes” to filter the 70,000 emails received each day.
But people should not rely on email for urgent matters, especially in relation to young people, he said.
“Email is an inherently unreliable means of communication … and we do not encourage email as a means of reporting any concerns about children.”
Instead people should be using the ministry’s freephone number (0508 326 459) to report child abuse or neglect, he said.
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