Note that this function doesn't (or at least doesn't seem to) actually filter based on the current values of $_GET etc. Instead, it seems to filter based off the original values.
<?php
$_GET['search'] = 'foo'; // This has no effect on the filter_input

$search_html = filter_input(INPUT_GET, 'search', FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS);
$search_url = filter_input(INPUT_GET, 'search', FILTER_SANITIZE_ENCODED);
echo "You have searched for $search_html.\n";
echo "<a href='?search=$search_url'>Search again.</a>";
?>

If you need to set a default input value and filter that, use filter_var on your required input variable instead

Note that this function doesn't (or at least doesn't seem to) actually filter based on the current values of $_GET etc. Instead, it seems to filter based off the original values.