\n Parent Says RISD Filter Blocked Trump Search Blocked on computer image by Canva; President Trump image by Rawpixel.comShutterstock <\/p>\n
Texas State Board of Education Member Brandon Hall<\/a> (R-District 11) is criticizing Richardson ISD after a parent discovered that a district internet filter blocked her son\u2019s search for President Donald Trump. The district says a filter-setting error, not political censorship, caused the restriction.<\/p>\n As previously reported<\/a> by The Dallas Express, an anonymous Richardson ISD parent provided DX with video that she said showed her son attempting to research Trump for a school assignment.<\/p>\n According to the parent, the district device displayed a message stating, \u201cWEBSITE BLOCKED BY RICHARDSON ISD.\u201d<\/p>\n The parent said searches for former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Jeffrey Epstein did not produce the same blocking message.<\/p>\n Hall calls for consistent access<\/p>\n Hall said the cause does not change the need for students to receive consistent access to information on taxpayer-funded devices.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no question that students should be able to access information about the sitting President of the United States on taxpayer-funded devices. If a school district is going to use content filters, those filters must be applied consistently, they cannot be one-sided,\u201d Hall said.<\/p>\n District blames \u2018rum\u2019 match<\/p>\n Richardson ISD acknowledged that its filter blocked searches for Trump but denied that political motives caused the restriction.<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate the parent who brought this matter to our attention and want to assure our community that there was no intentional attempt to block access to the name \u2018Trump\u2019 through our network\u2019s content filter,\u201d Sandra Verduzco, executive director of communications and marketing for Richardson ISD, told The Dallas Express.<\/p>\n Verduzco said the district\u2019s Technology Department investigated after receiving the parent\u2019s report and found that the filtering software detected the letters \u201crum\u201d within \u201cTrump.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUpon receiving the report earlier this morning, our Technology Department immediately investigated the issue and determined that the video was incorrectly blocked because the filter identified the word \u2018rum\u2019 within the name \u2018Trump,\u2019\u201d Verduzco said.<\/p>\n The district said the problem extended beyond Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cAs part of the review, the team discovered that this was not isolated to the word \u2018Trump\u2019; other words containing \u2018rum\u2019, such as \u2018drum\u2019, \u2018rumble\u2019, and \u2018crumble\u2019 were also being incorrectly blocked by the filter,\u201d Verduzco said.<\/p>\n