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McDonald's is now filtering out porn from its public Wi-Fi networks

McDonald's is now filtering out porn from its public Wi-Fi networks

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You can still get a Happy Meal for kids at McDonald's, but it'll be trickier to have an adult "happy time" — the restaurant chain is now blocking pornographic content on its public Wi-Fi services. "McDonald's is committed to providing a safe environment for our customers," a spokesperson said, confirming that the chain was now using Wi-Fi filtering in "the majority" of its 14,000 locations across the United States.

The restriction comes after two years of pressure from advocacy group Enough is Enough, whose stated mission is to make the internet safer for children and families. Led by Donna Rice Hughes, EiE was originally formed in 1992 as an anti-pornography group, but has changed its approach in recent years by campaigning for big chain restaurants like McDonald's to restrict their internet access. McDonald's joins other chains including Panera Bread and Chick-Fil-A in censoring its public Wi-Fi networks, but one of EiE's other big targets — Starbucks — has yet to take the same steps.

McDonalds joins Panera Bread and Chick-Fil-A in blocking porn in its Wi-Fi

"I've asked Starbucks employees whether they've had problems with customers in stores watching porn, and they've said, yes, that they sometimes have to tap customers on the shoulder," Rice Hughes told the New York Post. Enough is Enough admitted that McDonald's "wasn't aware of any pornography related incidents in their stores," but Rice Hughes applauded the company — which first introduced filtering capabilities on its Wi-Fi networks earlier this year ahead of the porn ban — for its "act of corporate responsibility and commitment to children and family safety."

Starbucks isn't the only place to have problems with visitors watching inappropriate content in public. Last month it was reported that homeless and young people in New York had been using Times Square's public internet kiosks to watch pornography, forcing operating company LinkNYC to install its own filter to block certain sites and searches.