“While it rarely occurs, the use of Starbucks public Wi-Fi to view illegal or egregious content is not, nor has it ever been, permitted,” Starbucks said in a statement.

The company said it had “identified a solution” to block pornography, although it did not specify the details of this solution – presumably to deter hackers figuring out how to circumvent any blocking software technology put in place.

The announcement follows sustained public pressure put on the company by non-profit internet-safety group Enough is Enough, based in Viginia, US, to filter pornography in all its retail locations. The ban will initially cover the whole of the US. A global rollout has not yet been announced. The need to block porn in non-US locations has not yet been identified.

Enough is Enough issued a statement earlier this week, claiming Starbucks had broken a promise it made to block the content in 2016: “Starbucks continues to serve up free, unrestricted Wi-Fi to its customers, opening the door for patrons to view graphic or obscene pornography, view or distribute child pornography (an illegal crime) or engage in sexual predation activity,” said the statement.

An accompanying online public petition attracted close to 28,000 signatures this week.

Enough is Enough previously had similar success with burger vendor McDonald’s, which changed its Wi-Fi policies in 2016 after pressure from the group.

Charles Hughes, vice president of YouPorn (one of the top 200 most-visited web sites in the world), responded to the Starbucks announcement by sending a memo to his staff, banning Starbucks products from company offices from 1 January 2019.

“While it rarely occurs, the use of Starbucks public Wi-Fi to view illegal or egregious content is not, nor has it ever been, permitted,” Starbucks said in a statement.

The company said it had “identified a solution” to block pornography, although it did not specify the details of this solution – presumably to deter hackers figuring out how to circumvent any blocking software technology put in place.

The announcement follows sustained public pressure put on the company by non-profit internet-safety group Enough is Enough, based in Viginia, US, to filter pornography in all its retail locations. The ban will initially cover the whole of the US. A global rollout has not yet been announced. The need to block porn in non-US locations has not yet been identified.

Enough is Enough issued a statement earlier this week, claiming Starbucks had broken a promise it made to block the content in 2016: “Starbucks continues to serve up free, unrestricted Wi-Fi to its customers, opening the door for patrons to view graphic or obscene pornography, view or distribute child pornography (an illegal crime) or engage in sexual predation activity,” said the statement.

An accompanying online public petition attracted close to 28,000 signatures this week.

Enough is Enough previously had similar success with burger vendor McDonald’s, which changed its Wi-Fi policies in 2016 after pressure from the group.

Charles Hughes, vice president of YouPorn (one of the top 200 most-visited web sites in the world), responded to the Starbucks announcement by sending a memo to his staff, banning Starbucks products from company offices from 1 January 2019.