Safari's adult content filter is blocking Asian-related searches on the iPhone (iOS). The discovery was announced last Tuesday (18) by Charlie Stigler, a Twitter user, who noticed some curious terms blocked by the feature. The app seems to understand that all searches that include the words "asian" (asian) and "teen" (teenager) are associated with pornography.
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Interestingly, searches for terms like "asian hairstyles" and "teen mental health resources" are also blocked by the browser filter. Charlie reported noticing the restrictions using an iPhone 8 with iOS 13.3.1, but confirmed that it is possible to reproduce the lock on an iPhone 11 Pro.
Weird bad thing: iOS built-in adult content filter blocks all searches with the keyword "Asian, assuming it's porn-related. Which means a 12 y / o Chinese-American girl might Google" Asian hairstyles "and find out that her culture is blocked as "adult content."
– February 18, 2020
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Something curious about the resource is the fact that it does not restrict the search for the term "asians" (asians, in the plural) even though the word is also used by the adult website industry. The user also reported the block in several searches like "asian history", "asian food" and "asian sports".
In tests of dnetc, Safari's content filter did not block the same searches performed in Portuguese, with the keywords "teenager" and "asian" or "asian". Apple did not comment on the case.
Safari: iPhone adult content filter (iOS) blocks searches by Asian and teen Photo: Rubens Achilles / dnetc
IPhone content filters
IPhone content filters allow you to block sensitive content between music, news, movies, profiles, publications and more. In the "Web Content" section, the user can limit access to adult sites, add permitted addresses and configure restricted access.
To activate the lock, it is necessary to access the settings of the cell phone, touch "General" and go to "Time of Use". Then select "Content and Privacy" and "Content Restrictions". In "Contedo da Web", just check the desired option.
IPhone content filter blocks content that may be related to pornography Photo: Reproduo / Marcela Franco
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