Starbucks announced this week it will begin blocking pornography from the Wi-Fi in all its stores staring in 2019.
A spokesperson for the Seattle-based coffee company told NBC News the viewing of “egregious content” has long violated the brand’s terms of use, though it is just now making the decision to proactively block pornography.
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“We have identified a solution to prevent this content from being viewed within our stores and we will begin introducing it to our U.S. locations in 2019,” the spokesperson said.
The decision to finally bar the consumption of pornography over Starbucks’ Wi-Fi came after a campaign started in 2014 by the anti-pornography group Enough Is Enough. A petition urging Starbucks to block pornography access from its Wi-Fi garnered more than 26,000 signatures.
The nonprofit organization said the petition targeted Starbucks and McDonald’s. The fast-food restaurant acted swiftly to bar pornography access; Starbucks did not.
A promise is a promise! @EIETweets and I will not give up until @Starbucks has filtered its WiFi. https://t.co/YqQeK6it3z @Kate_H_Taylor via @businessinsider #Starbucks #SafeWiFi
— Donna Hughes (@DonnaRiceHughes) November 29, 2018
Starbucks finally made good on its promise to filter explicit content — a vow the brand’s leaders first made in 2016 — after Enough Is Enough CEO Donna Rice Hughes rebuked the coffee behemoth.
“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,” she said in a statement first reported by Business Insider.
She continued, “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.”
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While Hughes is optimistic about Starbucks’ promise, she noted on Twitter she will continue to follow the developments “until Starbucks has filtered its Wi-Fi.”
According to recent data, some 40 million Americans access pornography websites on a regular basis, with 28,252 users actively consuming porn every second.
Earlier this fall, Faithwire launched an internet-based program, Set Free, designed specifically to help those who are struggling with an addiction to pornography. The seven-week video series is grounded in biblical truth and includes practical, faith-based solutions to help people break free from the chains of sexual sin.