IKEA’S outlet in Dublin plans to become the first location in Ireland to block internet porn from its free public wi-fi network, and have its filters independently verified to prevent children who connect smartphones or tablets to its wireless connection from downloading sexual images.
The Swedish retailer will display a symbol in its Ballymun shop issued by Friendly Wifi, a social enterprise in Ireland and the UK that accredits businesses and public spaces as having a child-friendly web connection.
Donna Moore, customer relations manager for Ikea UK and Ireland, said: “The set-up process will be completed in the coming weeks and we will display the Friendly WiFi symbol to inform customers we are part of the scheme.”
Tesco, Starbucks and Caffe Nero outlets in Britain have already signed up to Friendly Wifi, as have eight Tesco stores in Northern Ireland, due to concern about how easy it is for children to browse adult online content in public.
According to a study, 93% of girls and 90% of boys aged between 9 and 12 are able to connect to a wi-fi network from their smartphone.
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Last year a Sunday Times survey found that online porn could be easily accessed using free wi-fi hotspots in cafes, shopping centres and shops in Dublin.
Despite the availability of filters that block adult content, 19 out of 20 wi-fi signals tested allowed users to view explicit material. Only wi-fi from an Argos store had a fully functioning filter.
A study in February 2014 showed that 75% of young people in Ireland “rely exclusively” on free wi-fi outside the home.
Jared Huet, who runs the Internet College of Ireland, which trains parents in how to keep their children safe online, set up Friendly Wifi Ireland. He hopes more Irish businesses visited by children, such as shopping centres and restaurants, will filter out explicit content and have the security of their filters independently verified. “People don’t realise that when they provide wi-fi, a kid can come in and access porn on their phone,” he said.
“But when the right filters are in place, any search a child performs on Google or Google Images brings up ‘clean’ results. If the wi-fi is unfiltered, a young child could type in ‘big girls’ toys’ and accidentally get explicit images.”