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This article explains how to enforce SafeSearch on search engines from the DNSFilter app, including enforcing restricted mode on YouTube.
SafeSearch is a search engine setting that filters adult and offensive content. For example, if a user attempts to search for an inappropriate or suggestive phrase, there will be zero results shown because of the nature of the phrase.
DNSFilter offers the ability to enforce SafeSearch/Restricted Mode on these search engines:
- Bing
- DuckDuckGo
- Ecosia
- Yandex
- YouTube
End users can't override these Filtering Policy settings from the search engine.
How SafeSearch works with other blocked content
Enforcing SafeSearch for a Filtering Policy overrides any Category blocks, e.g. Search Engines & Portals or Entertainment (which blocks YouTube).
If the goal is to block these search engines, SafeSearch must be disabled for the Category block to work.
Enforce SafeSearch in a Filtering Policy
Follow these steps to enable SafeSearch.
- From the DNSFilter dashboard, navigate to Policies and select Filtering
- Select the Policy to enforce SafeSearch on
- Tab to SafeSearch
- Toggle the options to enforce within the Policy
That's it! Settings save automatically when selected. Once enabled, any user that tries to disable SafeSearch from their device is blocked from changing those controls.
YouTube Restrictive Mode Moderate vs Strict
Admins have the option to enforce YouTube Restrictive Mode as Moderate or Strict. Note that both still allow some video access.
YouTube uses an automated system to identify and filter videos based on Restrictive Mode status, including video title, description, metadata, Community Guidelines reviews, and age restrictions.
Test SafeSearch
Navigate to any of the search engine's settings in Incognito Mode to test that the settings can't be changed from the browser.
You can also test to confirm SafeSearch is enforced through command line: a simple nslookup should show the following results:
nslookup www.google.com
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: forcesafesearch.google.com
Address: 216.239.38.120
Aliases: www.google.comYouTube
nslookup www.youtube.com
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: restrictmoderate.youtube.com
Addresses: 2001:4860:4802:32::78
216.239.38.120
Aliases: www.youtube.comBing
nslookup www.bing.com
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: a-0017.a-msedge.net
Address: 204.79.197.220
Aliases: www.bing.com
strict.bing.com
strict-bing-com.a-0001.a-msedge.netMicrosoft Bing’s last listed alias may change based on geo-location! As long as you are seeing “strict” you are all set!
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