where do these kooks come from?     

Eric Holder, The American Library Association And Wikipedia Are America's Worst Porn Enablers

from the thinking-of-the-children-is-tough-when-your-brain's-shut-off dept

As has been pointed out before, the Internet is for porn (when not being used for bogus lawsuits). Unfortunately, the Internet was thoroughly dissed by Morality in Media's "Dirty Dozen" list, which names and shames the 12 filthiest "enablers" of our nation's "porn pandemic."

The top name on the list is a bit of a surprise: Eric Holder. Certainly, Holder is less than beloved here at Techdirt. (Here's a few dozen reasons why.) But to date, we've never really found him to be some sort of Bob Guccione Jr., wandering the Dept. of Justice spreading the Good News about porn.

Here's why Holder is public enemy no. 1, according to Morality in Media.

Mr. Holder refuses to enforce existing federal obscenity laws against hardcore adult pornography, despite the fact that these laws have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and effectively enforced by previous attorneys general.

Hmm. Maybe it's because he's got bigger fish to fry, what with Kim Dotcom still wandering around New Zealand shooting his mouth off (and opening new storage lockers), domestic spying and possible domestic drone attacks to keep under his hat, FOIA requests to ignore and the prosecution of Aaron Swartz to answer for.

Federal obscenity laws are randomly enforced. Previous attorneys general may have made an effort if enough noise surrounded the case, but by and large, porn continues unabated.

Here are the other 11 of the "Dirty Dozen:"

Comcast

Comcast gets named out front, but the dropdown text names every major cable/DSL provider, each of which provides premium and PPV porn.

Facebook

Considering Facebook won't even let you post a naked breast anywhere (even in breast cancer/breast feeding discussions), it's somewhat laughable to think Big Social is a porn fan's paradise. Morality in Media says:

The world’s most popular social networking site has become a top place to trade pornography, which we have reported on numerous occasions. According to reports, even child pornography is regularly shared on Facebook and women and children are trafficked on the site.

Oh, never mind. It's completely laughable. It's like Craiglist, only with a UI that won't make your eyes bleed! (Oddly enough, Human Traffic Central does not make the list.)

Google Play

Unlike Apple's walled garden of fully-clothed delights, Google's app store is rather laxly policed. As MiM points out, porn is everywhere ("in every category"). Android also enjoys a larger marketshare than IOS. COINCIDENCE?

LodgeNet

SpanktroVision.

Hilton Hotels

Porn pushers as well, apparently. Hooked up with SkyLodgeNet and timing its porn ads so they're the first thing you see when you turn it on... at least according to MiM's research.

Twitter

Twitter doesn't police tweets containing external links, so the service may as well just be the hype man outside an adult bookstore, pressing Tweets into the hands of every passerby.

Twitter has become the new ‘micro-porn’ service with tens of thousands of porn tweets an hour. Of course, there is no way to keep this from children.

Of course. Children are unregulated entities who raise themselves by foraging for food and following porn-y Twitter feeds. If only they had parents...

American Library Association

Oh, look. Big Lend is hooking your innocent little children up to porn IVs disguised as publicly accessible computers. And when it's not doing it directly, it's allowing your children to peek over the shoulder of that skeevy-looking dude browsing porn in public. For shame. If only the ALA would shut up about this "First Amendment" and keep its computers locked up tighter than an AOL portal with NetNanny running over the top.

Wikipedia

Useful tool or PORN LOCKER? You be the judge. (Or don't. It looks as though MiM has that position locked up...) Because Wikipedia won't proactively monitor content uploaded to Wikicommons, it is now awash in all kinds of pornography, ranging from the merely titillating to the hideously obscene to the kiddie. (Again, according to the "researchers" at Morality Central.)

Cosmo Magazine

I, for one, cannot be bothered to defend Cosmo's "good" name. It certainly can't be bothered to defend anyone outside its target demographic.

This staple of the supermarket checkout line may be as pornographic as Playboy magazine, but without the pictures.

So... just like the Playboy app currently being sold at iTunes?

This publication has steadily declined from a somewhat inspirational women’s magazine to a verbally pornographic “how-to” sex guide, further desensitizing young women and girls to the pornified culture around them.

One thing's for sure: "pornified" is a way underused term. (Also: porntacular, pornstravaganza, porned up, pornundated.)

Barnes & Noble

Well, good thing it's on its way out, then. MiM found nearly "two dozen" porn mags for sale at one store it randomly checked. (Give it another month or two, MiM! You may not be able to find the store at all! Smooches, Amazon.)

Dept. of Defense

O. M. G.

Servicemen "read" porn.

MiM says the DoD has a "porn problem" and acts like this is a new thing, instead of something that's been going for as long as young, warm-blooded males have been sent miles away from their loved ones for months at a time, often while being shot at frequently. Of course they had porn. And still do. Next, MiM will be adding the federal prison system to this list and acting shocked that incarcerated males would be in possession of pornography.

Morality in Media wants your help to "target, expose and shame" entities like the American Library Association, the Department of Defense and, um, Cosmo. It even gives you a pre-written petition to sign and, oddly enough, the opportunity to share this on Face[porn]book. But this whole list reeks of extrapolation and desperation, as if actual pornographers were nowhere to be found. Instead, we are given the opportunity to approach porn at an oblique angle and shame entities and services that have plenty of positive aspects. (Not included: Eric Holder, LodgeNet.) It takes a special sort of mindset to look at libraries and Wikipedia and see nothing but gaping pornholes.