Is there any halachic basis for requiring one to filter his internet? Does this fall under the category of "Ikah Darka Achrena Rasha Hu"? If a man is obligated to install a filter, does a woman have the same obligation?
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3wasnt there an asifa clarifying these psakim?– rayCommented Jan 31, 2014 at 11:23
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2Can you translate/explain "ika darka..." for those (like me) who don't know the reference, please?– msh210 ♦Commented Feb 2, 2014 at 2:46
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hamodia.com/letters/… for whatever it's worth– rayCommented Feb 10, 2014 at 7:58
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@msh210 Here's a short summary of the concept of Ika Darka Achrina (lit. there is another path): The Gemara mentions that one is allowed to walk through streets of 'ill repute' (i.e. places that he might see inappropriate materials) if there is no other path for him to get to his destination (note that it refers to walking through, there is no dispensation to allow staying there). However, the Gemara says that if there is a different path that would avoid this area (Ika Darka Achrina) but he still chooses the inappropriate path, then he is called a wicked person.– Salmononius2Commented May 9, 2014 at 19:26
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Hebrew article on Internet in Halacha You will find all the answers there.– Yehoshua LevyCommented May 6, 2022 at 21:00
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1 Answer
The primary point of your question is the subject of contemporary discussion, and is hard to offer a "conclusion." At the asifa referred to in the comment on your question, it was accepted by many Rabbanim that it would be included in "ikah darka acharina," and it is difficult to find a good reason to differentiate it from that.
Regarding your final question, the Sefer HaChinuch mitzvah 387 says that לא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם applies equally to women as to men. Iggros Moshe Even Haezer 1:69 says that women are not allowed to look at inappropriate pictures in films, and inappropriate internet images would be no different. R' Moshe (ibid) also applies this to seeing inappropriate behavior, and that would seem to extend to reading inappropriate material (since the logic is the thought process it instigates). So if men need a filter for the aformentioned reasons, women would also.
