Family First NZ is welcoming a decision by Google to no longer accept pornography as well as all ads that link to sexually explicit websites. Google have also agreed to stop offering sexually explicit apps in their phone app store, Google Play.

In a letter sent to advertisers this week, Google have said: Beginning in the coming weeks, we’ll no longer accept ads that promote graphic depictions of sexual acts including, but not limited to, hardcore pornography; graphic sexual acts including sex acts such as masturbation; genital, anal, and oral sexual activity.

“This is a great decision by Google to protect families as internet usage becomes more and more common in NZ homes. The internet should not be left unregulated when it comes to the protection of children. Often, parents are simply unaware of what their children can access, may stumble across, or may intentionally be viewing. The default setting should be the protection of children, young people and families.”

“Because of the availability, affordability, and anonymity of the internet, we must put as many safeguards in place as possible – and sooner rather than later. We must do all we can to block websites that feature child pornography, bestiality, sexual violence against women, and detailed instruction of crime and drug use,” says Mr McCoskrie.

The announcement came just two weeks after a delegation of anti-porn activists met with Google executives at their offices in Washington, D.C. The organisation Porn Harms, a part of Morality in Media, organised the meeting that also included Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, Enough is Enough, and Focus on the Family. Activists are still asking for Google to block porn on YouTube and to increase the protection for children in the Google search engine.

“Social scientists, clinical psychologists, biologists and neurologists are now beginning to understand the psychological and biological negative effects of viewing pornography. They show that men who view pornography regularly have a higher tolerance for abnormal sexuality, including rape, sexual aggression, and sexual promiscuity. Prolonged consumption of pornography by men results in stronger perceptions of women as commodities or as “sex objects,” says Mr McCoskrie.

A meta-analysis by the National Foundation for Family Research and Education (NFFRE) at the University of Calgary found that viewing pornography leads to perceptions of sexual dominance, sex role stereotyping, viewing persons as sexual objects, sexual aggressiveness, and sexually hostility and violent behaviours.

“Google are to be congratulated for making this principled stand. Now it’s time for other companies to follow suit.

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