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The question bellow is blocked in Iran and after a click on it I cannot read it to find what it is about:

Capo-cheerleader

Could you please tell me what it is about or find a way to remove the filtering by changing some words that may cause such filtering to be able read it without using trouble maker proxies? (I cannot find why it is blocked and in addition I mention that all pages having words about sex, sexual organs, homosexuality, pornography, Christianity or political advertizement against Islam and Muslims are filtered in Iran)

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  • It's a question about the American national soccer team and why the guys who lead cheers are known by an Italian word.
    – Andrew Leach Mod
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 11:14
  • We don't know what that filter is any more than you do, so how can we know what to change. Actually you've already stated more things about what they block than I would have guessed. The scientific way to deal with this would be for you to tell us as many titles of questions that you can't see the contents of, and we could try to discover the pattern.
    – Mitch
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 12:33
  • @AndrewLeach Amazing! There is nothing to be in the list of Iranians authority's filtering. I am wondering.. :(
    – Persian Cat
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 15:47
  • @Mitch It is a little strange! everything which they may find it against their rules and ideology but that I have mentioned in the question are the most sensitive items for them which are targets of filtering.
    – Persian Cat
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 15:49

3 Answers 3

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The reason the post is blocked in Iran is because the third comment down on the first question refers to a Jewish extermination camp used in World War II which is called Capo, with a K instead of a C.

The official position of Iran is that these extermination camps did not exist - or are part of a Jewish conspiracy - and they automatically block any webpage that makes reference to these events.

Consequently the inclusion of that link has caused that page to be inaccessible inside Iran.

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  • Thanks! You are a genius! I think you solved the puzzle. Yes! All pages about about that matter are filtered in Iran by FATA police.
    – Persian Cat
    Commented Aug 31, 2013 at 20:48
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Here you go, I have no idea why this would be blocked, some kind of automatic filter linked to cheerleaders perhaps? I hope my mentioning the word won't cause this page to be blocked as well...

The question:

I noticed that the demi-official USA national (soccer) team supporter's group has a name for the folks who lead their section of the stands in chants/cheers; a word I'd never seen used for that before: "Capo".

I'm curious if this is just something they came up with on their own, or is this an actual common use for this word?

The proper English word for this role probably really ought to be "Cheerleader". However, while that's probably what cheerleaders did in the 1920's, these days cheerleaders are essentially glorified dance/gymnastic troupes. So I suppose I can see where a new word for the actual act of leading the fans in cheers would be required. Is this that word, or just AO's attempt at it?

Answer 1:

Capo is an Italian word which first and foremost means head as in the anatomical part of your body. Consequently; a director, manager, president, chief, or even the boss of a company can all be called "capo".

From the AO US Soccer supporters' website:

What would a Capo be expected to do?:

Direct the entire crowd into unified support of the team.

A strong capo may sacrifice for the good of the crowd, but can stay motivated, loud, and passionate for 90 + minutes. They can hold the respect of the crowd to lead the section for the whole game and for every game.

However, when talking about the head or leader of a sports team, a (military) squad or a group of workers, caposquadra is the most commonly used word. I suspect it is this expression, more than "capo" itself which has been loaned to the soccer team supporters' group.

Update
After doing a little Italian research, I can confirm that "capo" is indeed the Italian football supporter responsible for co-ordinating the chants, football songs, and cheers of encouragement. He is recognized as the leader of the Ultras; "armed" with a loud-hailer the capo is assisted by several colleagues to help sustain the level of support.

ANSWER 2:

Capo is a position in the Mafia - not the Boss or his deputy, but the head of a branch: see Wikipedia's article for Caporegime.

Here is seems to be being used for the head of a section.

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    Don't you think if regular SE is blocked that also meta would be blocked too by the same filter? Your inclusion here might actually end up blocking this entire page for the OP, making them think they are really out to get them, when really it's just an automatic filtering.
    – Mitch
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 12:24
  • This is exactly why I commented in broad terms on the question. This answer seems unlikely to be helpful!
    – Andrew Leach Mod
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 12:49
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    @Mitch yes, I was afraid of that but that may also depend on how quickly the filters work. If there is a centralized crawler that blacklists specific URLs, it might take a while to propagate and the OP might have the chance to read it. Since the OP could actually write a list of banned words and post them and, presumably, read their own question, I figured it was worth a try.
    – terdon
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 12:51
  • @AndrewLeach see my comment to Mitch.
    – terdon
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 12:53
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    @terdon Thanks! This page in meta is not blocked but it is still blocked in the main page!.. I cannot find any reason for it. Maybe it is a mistake but filtering machine.. I do not know.. Anyway thanks for republishing the question here.
    – Persian Cat
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 15:54
  • @PersianCat you're welcome, please accept this answer so the question can be marked as answered.
    – terdon
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 15:56
  • OOPS ... Maybe the filter saw the phrase "anatomical part of your body" and thus removed the whole post...
    – GEdgar
    Commented Aug 31, 2013 at 14:32
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Maybe it is one of the links in the post that has caused the page to be blocked.

There is a link to a very patriotic American soccer fansite, a couple of dictionary links, a links to both English and Italian Wikipedia.

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  • Emm.. Maybe!.. Really I don't know.. I cannot predict what logic they follow.. :)( ..
    – Persian Cat
    Commented Aug 30, 2013 at 14:19
  • I think that your supposition (embedded links) is just as likely as actual content to be causative. We can't know for certain unless we were able to implement the suggestion made by @Mitch in the question comments. That would be an excessive imposition on Persian Cat though! I am fascinated by this, as a puzzle, figuring out what the triggers are based on: whether cultural dictates, word meaning or idiom. I didn't even consider the links. Both the URL and domain are possibilities.
    – Ellie K
    Commented Aug 31, 2013 at 7:57
  • @PersianCat I hope my comment does not sound insensitive or self-centered. I would rather that you were not subject to censorship. I do not want you to think that I am entertained by the circumstances that restrict your ability to freely access information.
    – Ellie K
    Commented Aug 31, 2013 at 8:00

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