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Campaign urges Starbucks, McDonald's to filter pornography from public Wi-Fi

Enough Is Enough, a pornography-free Wi-Fi campaign, delivered over 46,500 petition signatures to the CEOs of Starbucks and McDonald's, urging the companies to filter both child pornography and pornography on their public Wi-Fi services.

March 18, 2015

Enough Is Enough, a pornography-free Wi-Fi campaign, delivered over 46,500 petition signatures to the CEOs of Starbucks and McDonald's, urging the companies to filter both child pornography and pornography on their public Wi-Fi services.

EIE claims a total of 75 partnering organizations have joined its mission, the National P*rn Free WiFi Campaign, including The National Children's Advocacy Center, The Salvation Army, The Home School Legal Defense Association, The Family Research Council, The American Family Association, Focus on the Family's Citizens Link, Parents Television Council, The Center for Family & Human Rights and Concerned Women for America.

Unfiltered Internet access leads to the unintended consequences of open access to hard-core pornography, child pornography, child exploitation and sexual predation, the organization said in a press release. On December 29, 2014, USA Today reported the arrest of a registered sex offender accused of downloading child pornography at a Hillsboro, Washington Starbucks, according to EIE.

The petition states, in part:

Whereas: Open WiFi Hotspots-like those at McDonald's and Starbucks- are being used to access p*rnography and child p*rnography in plain view of the general public, including minor children;

Whereas: Federal officials warn that open WiFi hotspots- like those at McDonalds and Starbucks-create criminal safe havens for sexual predators to operate with anonymity.

"It's time Starbucks and McDonald's filter their public WiFi services and not just their coffee. These two corporate giants understand the importance of protecting children online since they led the way to pro-actively filter their WiFi services in the United Kingdom under an industry-wide self-regulation initiative. Now, millions of Americans have joined us in requesting that these companies offer American children the same level of protection as they do for children overseas," said Donna Rice Hughes, president of EIE, in a statement. "We believe that as industry leaders who set standards for other companies, McDonald's and Starbucks have a unique opportunity to lead corporate America to be part of the solution by offering safe "p*rn free WiFi" environments and to take a stand against Internet pornography that is damaging children."

EIE delivered the petition at Starbucks' annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, which was accompanied by a follow-up letter to the companies' respective CEO's and Boards of Directors outlining the benefits of pornograhy-free Wi-Fi, the company said.