iPhone's New Parental Controls Block Sex Ed, Allow Violence and Racism (vice.com)

samleecole shares a report from Motherboard: The parental controls in the iPhone's new iOS 12 are blocking innocuous sexual education content on Safari, while allowing websites like the white supremacist Daily Stormer and searches for bomb-making instructions through its filter. The settings, found under Screen Time in the new iOS 12, are meant to give parents greater control over how their kids use their phones unsupervised, including filters for "explicit" content and content ratings and restrictions, with the option to "limit adult websites." As tested by Motherboard, the filter blocks longstanding educational sites like Scarleteen and O.school, but allows sites like The Daily Stormer, an extremist neo-Nazi white supremacist platform.

The filter in question "limits adult websites" on Safari. When Motherboard tested this filter, we found several similarly blocked searches and websites: The searches "how to say no to sex," "sex assault hotline," and "sex education" were all restricted, but the results for the searches "how to poison my mom," "how to join isis," and "how to make a bomb" were allowed. 4chan and 8chan are blocked, but Reddit -- including many NSFW and porn-focused subreddits, are not. The subreddit r/gonewild, which is pornographic, is not caught by the filter, which even allows users to click through Reddit's own age-gating.

Comments

Steve Jobs Was a Prude - And Apple Still Is

[kenwd0elq]

This has always puzzled me. Violence and murder, on film or in TV programming, is generally allowed, with a "PG" or "R" rating or equivalent. Sex is rated "X" or "XXX" depending on the explicitness. And yet, in real life, most people (outside Chicago, at least) will probably never witness a murder or experience a shooting.

But most people WILL see and touch and have sex with other naked people, hopefully many thousands of times. Seems to me that we should celebrate depictions of sex,and discourage depictions of murder.

Re:Steve Jobs Was a Prude - And Apple Still Is

[cascadingstylesheet]

This has always puzzled me. Violence and murder, on film or in TV programming, is generally allowed, with a "PG" or "R" rating or equivalent. Sex is rated "X" or "XXX" depending on the explicitness. And yet, in real life, most people (outside Chicago, at least) will probably never witness a murder or experience a shooting.

But most people WILL see and touch and have sex with other naked people, hopefully many thousands of times. Seems to me that we should celebrate depictions of sex,and discourage depictions of murder.

Well, perhaps you explained it right there.

We're not worried that depictions of murder will sully your real experience of murder.

We're not worried that depictions of murder will twist your development away from being a healthy murderer.

Re:Steve Jobs Was a Prude - And Apple Still Is

[Etcetera]

This has always puzzled me. Violence and murder, on film or in TV programming, is generally allowed, with a "PG" or "R" rating or equivalent. Sex is rated "X" or "XXX" depending on the explicitness. And yet, in real life, most people (outside Chicago, at least) will probably never witness a murder or experience a shooting.

Are you an American? If so, the answer should be obvious. The US culturally has a certain outlook on the profane and the sacred, steming partially from its Puritan roots and partly from the ethics of the time as the US spread west. Explicit sexuality is protected more, while the more violent aspects are seen as... well, just part of life.

It's pretty much the exact opposite of the European/Old World view on these matters, where sex is presented far more openly in real life, but guns are harder to come by. And in entertainment, sex and nudity gets a pass while violence will lead to more restrictive movie and video game ratings (or be censored out).

When people (like the GP, honestly) complain about US views on sex and violence, they're usually just whining about it without addressing the underlying principle: the US is simply different about these things. It's a different cultural choice. It doesn't mean you're oppressed, and it doesn't mean that parental-management tools (such as this) are wrong for having different default choices than you'd prefer.

Re:Steve Jobs Was a Prude - And Apple Still Is

[sjames]

X used to be an actual official rating and could be applied for various non-porn content (for example, the first edit of Robocop). However, once it became synonymous with porn in the public's mind, it was replaced by NC-17. XXX was always unofficial and used exclusively for porn marketing.

Re:Steve Jobs Was a Prude - And Apple Still Is

[angel'o'sphere]

and it doesn't mean that parental-management tools (such as this) are wrong for having different default choices than you'd prefer.
Yes, they are wrong.

A 14 year old and above has the right to inform her/himself about sex related questions. And if parents block that, it is clear signal that the parents are not the right persons to ask. Also it seems you missed to read the summary: "sex assault hotline", why the funk would a search like this be blocked?

If you're letting your pre-teen have an iphone

[Spy Handler]

you're doing the parenting thing wrong.

Steve Jobs himself wouldn't let his own kids anywhere near an iPhone or an iPad.

Issues with values

[duke_cheetah2003]

I really don't understand this kind of thing. It's just fine to see the most horrific violence imaginable, but you can't see someone's penis or breasts. What the hell?

Is it just me, or would the more ideal world be where this is completely reversed?

No problem for U.S.

[bjwest]

Here in the U.S., sex is taboo, and heaven forbid we try to teach it to our children. Violence and racism? Those are prime time material, and OK to show to anyone of any age.