JAVA? YES! PORN? NO!
Starbucks nixes XXX WiFi
Coffee lovers looking to sip their cappuccinos while streaming porn are going to have to set up shop somewhere other than Starbucks.
The popular coffee chain is set to introduce a new tool next year that will block customers from streaming pornography and other explicit content in its stores, a spokesperson confirmed to the Daily News.
“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,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “To ensure the Third Place remains safe and welcoming to all, 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.” It remains unclear just how Starbucks will filter out the offending sites, but the company said it has tested a variety of tools to ensure that inoffensive sites don't accidentally get blocked, too, according to Business Insider. The update comes following a petition from the internet safety organization Enough is Enough that ripped Starbucks for not fulfilling a promise it made back in 2016 to crack down on just what customers were streaming on its free Wi-Fi. The porn prevention petition, released Nov. 20, currently has more than 26,000 signatures attached.
“Because there are no filters to block online pornography and child pornography in these restaurants that so many families like yours and mine frequent, this toxic illegal content is readily available in every Starbucks and McDonald's in America,” the petition reads.