Beware of Pornography When Shopping on Amazon

Have you ever accidentally run across pornography on the internet? Unfortunately, a few years ago, I tried to look up Dick's Sporting Goods and put the incorrect URL into my browser. Needless to say, I was shocked and educated a bit that day. I haven't looked to see if the sporting goods store has since purchased the domain that I mindlessly looked up.

Recently, Google banned pornography sites from its search engine but reinstated the NSFW content because of a great deal of negative feedback. Google spokeswoman Jessica Pelegio wrote, “but also about the negative impact on individuals who post sexually explicit content to express their identities.”

However, you can set your Google system preferences to filter out pornography and it's incredibly accurate. These settings are especially important if you have children. But, what if you set your browser and search engines to a 'strict' filter and as you were shopping online, your retailer made pornography suggestions with explicit photos and words? That's exactly what happens if you look up the wrong word on Amazon.

One frustrated consumer writes:

Earlier today, I was searching for a specific pair of shoes for my niece by brand and style as listed on another site. I searched for: westbuitti cheri.  Shoes did not come up...but other suggestions did.  The magazine cover (as you can access here -- warning NSFW) popped up for me.  It is a nasty cover...not just nudity but nasty.  

I love Amazon Prime.  I use it frequently.  I had no idea that photo covers from porn magazines such as Hustler, Cheri and others were readily available for viewing by anyone of any age at any time just by browsing your site.  At no time was a banner flashed prior to photos being shown.  As a customer and parent of minor children, I have not been apprised of this possibility.  I did not know that I would need to filter the use of Amazon by my children as I do so many other sites.  They often use Amazon to look for things just as my husband and I do.

I looked for a setting to filter out pornography on Amazon but couldn't find one. And, to take it one step further, I searched "porn" in the Amazon Prime free video library and a whole list of titles came up.

Hopefully, the company will create a pornography filter in the future to help ensure that these adult-only titles won't be accessible to our kids. In the meantime, always be mindful of what your children are doing online and speak with them frequently about sexual health and what the internet holds. Here's a good resource for getting started with this conversation.