Shock as iPhone ‘porn’ filter blocks people from Googling the word ‘Asian’

IPHONE users with blockers for “adult content” turned on are not able to search the internet for the word “Asian”.

The setting also leaves users unable to search terms like “Asian country” and “Asian food”.

This bizarre restrcition appears to be associated with Apple’s latest iOS 14 software.

Users with the update have the option to limit screen time and under that Settings section you can also restrict web content.

Parents may use this tool to restrict what children can search for and filter out porn websites.

It gives users the options to have “unrestricted access”, “limit adult websites” or “allowed websites only” on Safari or any other browser installed on the iPhone.

1

You can also type in what specific websites aren’t allowed.

To test the feature for yourself open Settings and then go to “Screen Time”, “Content & Privacy Restrictions”.

Then turn restriction access on with the toggle in the top right hand corner.

You then need to click “Content restrictions”, “Web Content” and then “Limit Adult Websites”.

Before this restriction was in place, searching the term “Asian country” brings up facts about the Asian continent.

With the restriction on, users just see a message that says “You cannot browse this page at “google.co.uk” because it is restricted.

The “limit adult website” setting appears to ban any website that includes the word Asian in its URL.

The filter could be trying to ban porn search terms but other common racial search terms on pornographic websites are not banned by the filter.

The terms “black”, “white”, “Korean” and “French” can all still be searched.

The phrase “schoolgirl” can be searched but “teen” and “amateur” cannot.

Computer scientist and Apple developer Steven Shen recently tweeted about this issue.

He also revealed he complained about it to Apple a long time ago and received no response.

We reached out to Apple for comment but it has no statement at this time.

In other news, Instagram is quietly working on a new version of Stories that works like TikTok.

Twitch streamer Indiefoxx has been banned from the platform again over strict nudity rules.

And, Netflix is trialling a viewing timer feature that can pause an episode for you if you fall asleep.

---

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]

---