After years of public pressure, Starbucks has finally agreed to block porn from its public wi-fi.
“While it rarely occurs, the use of Starbucks public Wi-Fi to view illegal or egregious content is not, nor has it ever been permitted,” a spokesperson for the company said. “We have identified a solution to prevent this content from being viewed within our stores and we will begin introducing it to our US locations in 2019.”
Starbucks has danced around the issue for years, saying that it was looking for the right blocking software which would not unintentionally block other sites. McDonald’s began blocking porn in 2016, as did Chick-Fil-A and Subway.
Internet safety group Enough is Enough has been campaigning to get the coffee giant to stop customers from accessing objectionable material, arguing that free access to porn means that the coffee shop would become a hotbed for paedophiles and sex offenders.
“By breaking its commitment, Starbucks is keeping the doors wide open for convicted sex offenders and others to fly under the radar from law enforcement and use free, public Wi-Fi services to access illegal child porn and hard-core pornography,” founder Donna Rice Hughes said in a statement. “Having unfiltered hotspots also allows children and teens to easily bypass filters and other parental control tools set up by their parents on their smart phones, tablets, and laptops.”
