Yes, it is true. 1) Remove filtering: For instance, if you use Google, click the link "Preferences" near the "Search" button. Under "SafeSearch Filtering" you can choose "Do not filter my search results." and click the "Save Preferences" button. 2) Here a very interesting article about localized Google search results exclusion for the site of the Harvard University: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/google/ Main Harvard site about filtering: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/ 3) This article discuss the student's rights to access of information and the use of filtering software in education: http://fno.org/feb2005/legal.html 4) Very popular search engine had to filter some results at the request of a governement, an organization or a company (sometime, after a court decision). As you say, maybe these results could eventually be found under other less popular seach engines. As the search engines that you mentioned are very popular, every other could be considered: Here some information about search engines (with urls): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine http://searchenginewatch.com/ 5) here an interesting article for people who want results removed from the Google database: http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3330847.htm