Win! Telstra removes porn from Bigpond site

Ever thought emails and complaints weren't worth the effort? Read on

Last month Telstra was exposed for supplying pornography through its BigPond website over video capable mobile phones. Just a few clicks away from 'Go Diego Go' and Telstra's 'women at work' page dedicated to women's equality in the workplace, users could purchase porn videos such as 'Dirty Housewives' and 'Hot Asians Get Wet.'

A Telstra spokeswoman was sent forth to defend the content, stating the 'glamour content' was the 'mildest in the category.'

Melinda Tankard Reist rejected Telstra's defence and pointed out Playboy's xxx hardcore productions and the exploitative nature of 'Girls Gone Wild.'

We have been hearing from Collective Shout supporters for some time about Telstra's BigPond site. One Telstra customer contacted us in 2011 saying that she found it disturbing how every time she accessed news or the internet on her prepaid phone, Girls Gone Wild and Playboy was "generally the first thing" she saw.

Another customer was confronted with 'Hot babes direct to U' and 'Naughty Half Naked girls' every time she used mobile phone banking:

I just recently swapped my mobile phone provider from Vodafone to Telstra. I didn't realise going back to Telstra would increase my ability to have 'Hot new babes direct to U' and enable me to 'see naughty girls going wild'. I thought Telstra promoted themselves as being a 'family sensitive' business. After all isn't there a cute young boy travelling around Australia with his dad on the tv ads. I guess the promotion of porn sites on their bigpond website on my mobile phone late at night until about 7am in the morning enables that fun loving caring father to access porn from his mobile phone when he is away from his wife travelling with his son. I know the father and son have been travelling around looking at 'all things big'. Sounds like the dad might be looking at more than just the Big Pineapple.

Others have shared similar frustrations and were told by Telstra that there was no way to opt out of the porn ads. Complaints to Telstra had fallen on deaf ears.

Until now.

Following negative media and complaints, Telstra has now announced the removal of pornography from their BigPond Website.

As reported by Ruth Limkin on her website Bread and Justice, Telstra CEO David Thodey had this to say:

“Recently, I received emails from customers about content promoted on our BigPond website. Those customers thought we shouldn’t promote adult-orientated movies or videos that objectify women.

I have to agree. We have therefore decided that we will no longer promote access to adult-orientated content through our websites.

Let me put this decision in context. The content accessible via BigPond is mild compared to what’s available on the Internet.  None of it had an ‘R’ rating. In fact, I’m assured you could find more explicit content at your local DVD shop or elsewhere in cyberspace.

However, this is not the real issue! Why, then, have we made this decision?

The simple answer is that promoting content such as this is just not the Telstra thing to do and we cannot support anything that is sexist or that is inconsistent with our values.

We are, in many ways, Australia’s largest family company. We are owned by more than a million Australian families, many of our customers are Australian families and family businesses. And we have – through the Telstra Foundation and our corporate citizenship efforts – dedicated ourselves to promoting Australia’s cultural diversity, including gender diversity, through initiatives such as the Telstra Business Women’s Awards.

Our decision is consistent with our values of respect and diversity

If our customers want to view adult-orientated content on the Internet, they still can. That’s up to them, not us. This decision is not about censorship, but choice and respecting gender equality.”

Good decision Telstra. We look forward to other Telco's following your lead.

Well done to all who made their voices heard on this issue. Your voice has made a difference.

Let Telstra know what you think of their decision to no longer profit from the bodies of women and girls. You can submit positive feedback on their website here.

Update

Sydney Morning Herald article - Telstra pulls out of porn market after customer backlash