The jury is out on whether or not Starbucks will keep a pledge it made in November to block Wi-Fi pornography from its 29,000 coffee shots in America by 2019.
Internet safety advocate Enough Is Enough (EIE) is calling on Starbucks to keep that pledge.
“We will continue to engage the media to keep the pressure on Starbucks until they finally implement filtering in their U.S.-based stores,” EIE President and CEO Donna Rice Hughes told Baptist Press on December 3. “It’s time for America’s children and families to enjoy the same peace of mind in a safe Wi-Fi environment that Starbucks offers its loyal customer base in other nations.”
Hughes said 2016 was when the coffee giant first promised to address the issue.
“We are in the process of evaluating a global protocol to address this in all of our company-owned stores,” Starbucks said in July, 2016, “and are in active discussions with organizations on implementing the right, broad-based solution that would remove any illegal and other egregious content.”
Starbucks blocked porn from its free in-store Wi-Fi service in the United Kingdom six years ago, Hughes said. EIE launched a new online petition November 26 urging Starbucks to correct the problem at its U.S. locations. The petition has more than 27,117 signatures.
Open Wi-Fi is increasingly used in child sex trafficking and sexual solicitation of children, EIE said, based on federal findings.
“We’re not asking for something that they haven’t done elsewhere,” EIE said in November. “This isn’t about censorship; this is about corporate responsibility.”
EIE’s petition is available at citizengo.org/en/12447-we-demand-prn-free-wifi.
Starbucks should follow through on this commitment and make their restaurants safer for children.