Saying new technologies present risks to “those consumers who are most vulnerable—children,” the chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecom Bureau is encouraging the mobile phone industry to take the lead in helping parents block kids from cell phone porn.
“(A)s mobile devices have become more ubiquitous, they are increasingly used for work, entertainment, and perhaps most importantly, personal safety. As a result of the development of new mobile data technologies and applications, as well as the growing use of wireless devices by children, the issue of access to adult content by minors on mobile devices has come to the forefront,” said John Muleta in a February 14 letter to the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA)’s chairman (and former Congressman) Steve Largent.
Muleta applauded CTIA’s efforts in that direction but said just a little more was needed. He called on the wireless industry to make clear that parents can block Internet access and pay-per-call services on their kids’cell phones, as well as inform parents about just how many kinds of services their children can reach on those phones.
Muleta also asked CTIA to contemplate possible changes in the group’s code of conduct to promote wireless industry self-regulation against adult content.
“Through responsible action on the part of wireless carriers and content providers this important social goal can be achieved without government intervention and without interference to the provision of content to adults,” Muleta wrote to Largent. “…I encourage you to examine the efforts that are being made by both government and industry in other countries to address the issue of access to adult content by minors.”
He said Britain, Australia, and Israel recently faced the issue with differing results. “This issue,” he continued, “is not confined to our borders and we should be mindful that other parts of the international telecommunications industry are facing similar circumstances.”
The CTIA had yet to respond to Muleta’s letter at this writing.
