Robert Knight, writing in The Washington Times, notes:
“In 1865, following the most costly war in America’s history, the 13th Amendment abolished the odious institution of slavery in the United States.
“Why, then, is telecommunications giant Verizon providing an outlet for the products of the modern-day slavery of sex trafficking? The short answer is that it’s good for the bottom line.
“Speaking of the bottom, that’s where you find libertine societies where the only considerations are whether something makes money or involves adult consent. Stripped of moral restraints, the marketplace eventually serves up child-themed pornography and sexually violent content.”
That’s why every year Morality in Media, a watchdog group, compiles a list they call the “Dirty Dozen” who are the leading facilitators of pornography in America.
The 2014 Dirty Dozen List highlights offenders with an explanation of how they contribute to a culture of sexual exploitation. The campaign provides actions the public can take to persuade these individuals and organizations to change their policies and practices. These include calls and letters to headquarters, and social media interaction.
“Once again Attorney General Eric Holder tops our Dirty Dozen List for his support of pornographers over children and families,” said Patrick A. Trueman, President of Morality in Media. “As the pandemic of harm from pornography grows, Holder gives criminal pornographers the green light to proceed by stopping all enforcement of federal obscenity laws.”
Among others, the latest List includes the social networking site Tumblr for its embrace of pornographic offerings, PlayStation for it’s live streamed pornography and sexually violent games, and Verizon for its FIOS TV porn offerings including many with child or teen themes, sexual slavery plots, and racial overtones.
Those companies from the 2013 List, which have been excluded from the current List, have not necessarily ceased profiting from pornography but made improvements. They included the Pentagon for halting sales of porn in the Army and Air Force exchanges, and Comcast for improving parental controls.
“These Dirty Dozen companies profit daily from the sexual exploitation of others and our campaign against them will not stop until their exploitation stops. Many of them may be in violation of current, enforceable U.S. obscenity laws that prohibit the distribution of obscene or hardcore pornography,” said Dawn Hawkins, Morality in Media’s executive director.
For more information on this campaign, go to the Dirty Dozen website. The full, updated list includes:
Attorney General Eric Holder – 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.
Verizon – Verizon pushes porn into our homes now through hardcore pay-per-view movies on FIOS, smartphones, and tablets and as an Internet Service Provider with insufficient filtering options.
Sex Week – Yale and other colleges and universities repeatedly offer Sex Week on campus. Porn stars are routinely invited to lecture and pornography that glamourizes “fantasy rape” is screened.
Playstation – PlayStation’s live-streaming abilities are filling thousands of homes with live porn and the PlayStation Store sells hundreds of pornographic and sexually violent games.
Facebook – Facebook has become a top place to trade pornography, child pornography and for sexual exploitation. Facebook’s guidelines prohibit such behavior, but the company is doing little to enforce them.
Barnes & Noble – This Fortune 500 Company is a major supplier of adult pornography and child erotica. They regularly put pornography near the children’s sections in their stores and provide free, unfiltered porn publications on their Nook e-reader.
Hilton – This hotel chain, like Hyatt, Starwood and many other top hotel chains, provides hardcore pornography movie choices. Porn channels are often the first advertisement on their in-room TVs.
American Library Association – The ALA encourages public libraries to keep their computers unfiltered and allow patrons, including children, to access pornography.
Google – Google’s empire thrives on porn. Porn is easily available, even to children, through YouTube, GooglePlay, Google Images and Google Ads.
Tumblr – This popular social media blogging site bombards users with porn. Users must only be 13 and the filters do not work.
50 Shades of Gray – This bestselling book series and upcoming movie are normalizing sexual violence, domination, and torture of women. Oprah Winfrey Network, Broadway and other mainstream outlets have even promoted this abusive lifestyle.
Cosmopolitan Magazine – The magazine is a full-on pornographic, “how-to” sex guide, encouraging women to accept the pornified culture around them. They specifically market this content to teen girls.
To contact Verizon and find out how you can help stop this plague click here. (Warning: A few exact titles that Verizon offers are offensive.)
DanMarch 25, 2014
What about Google and the others?
Kent BusseMarch 25, 2014
Thank you Lorraine for your sensitive attention to "those we care about." Commercial titillation withers in the presence of strong positive relationships with high-quality people. While I appreciate the professional agents who curb exploiters and abusers, I agree that my best role is to help people feel loved in the right way, as you beautifully describe. The way to starve pornography of its audience is to spread genuine experiences like the nest warmth we feel in family prayer. When that secure sense of belonging permeates all our relationships all the time, we are quietly replacing falseness with authenticity.