Starbucks is set to suspend patrons' access to porn and sexually explicit content after once again finding itself in hot water with Enough is Enough (EIE), a nonprofit with the mission of eradicating online sexual predators and child pornography.
To ensure their stores remain "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 US locations in 2019," a Starbucks representative informed Business Insider.
EIE's petition, signed by over 26,000 as of Thursday, claims the coffee corporation with over 14,500 US locations should be held accountable for breaking their "promise to filter porn & child sex abuse images from its public WiFi."
Saying the company put paper straws before people's protection, the organization references Starbucks' failure to make right on a promise made more than two years prior to prohibit access to pornography over its WiFi. Sure enough, a number of articles from July 2016 cite Starbucks as pledging to make its internet a safe space for those of all ages.
"Once we determine that our customers can access our free WiFi in a way that also doesn't involuntarily block unintended content, we will implement this in our stores," Starbucks said to CNN in 2016, referencing McDonald's move to implement a porn filter.
Prior to launching the petition, EIE's CEO Donna Rice inquired about the progress on the issue "as recently as this summer," according to Business Insider. The reply, however, appeared to be a regurgitation of the same legal statement provided in 2016.
EIE has since accused the corporation of being complicit in the exploitation of minors and the proliferation of child pornography, as their past promise appeared to be swept under the rug.
While the corporation claims to have researched a number of "solutions" to the explicit and predatory issue before arriving at a desired option, they refused to provide further details on the tool.
On the flipside, the adult website YouPorn almost immediately fired back at the coffee brewer with a statement pledging a ban of all Starbucks products from their offices.
