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.
There is no official complete register of blocked sites. Blocked content includes:
Court orders (mainly for copyright issues)
Unilateral blocking (some websites have been reported as being blocked without any known court order on the sole initiative of certain ISPs)
Gambling regulations (Belgian gambling laws requires a Gambling business to have a local physical gambling point and proper license in order to provide online gambling)[1]
Court-ordered blocked websites
These are the sites explicitly listed and blocked by court cases in Belgium.
^
abIt is important to note that despite the fact that only two ISPs were actually concerned in this court order, many other ISPs have implemented the same blocking without any specific court order. It is not fully known which ISPs decided to enforce this ruling or not.
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 with heavy legal fees should they not comply with their request.[8][9][10][11] The list of ISPs below is probably incomplete as each ISP can decide individually on the matter.
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.[16]
^Ausloos, Jef (7 December 2011).
"Belgian ISPs vs Internet Freedom". EFF: Electronic Frontier Foundation. Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Archived from the original on 21 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
^Van Mechelen, Christophe (17 November 2011),
BAF Letter to ISPs(PDF) (in French), Brussels, Belgium: Belgian Anti-piracy Federation,
archived(PDF) from the original on 26 January 2012, retrieved 16 January 2014
^Van Mechelen, Christophe (17 November 2011).
"BAF Letter to ISPs"(PDF) (in Dutch). Brussels, Belgium: Belgian Anti-piracy Federation.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2014.