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UK Children’s Charity Sparks Moral Panic Over Adult Content in Kindle Store

daily mail moral panicThe head of the NSPCC is in the news today with a dire warning. This UK non-profit is dedicated to Protecting Children, and they have just discovered that there is adult content in the Kindle Store.

They want to warn everyone about the dangers of letting your kids read adult content:

The warning came after a mother found her 13-year-old daughter and a friend discussing the best way to make a sex tape after reading an x-rated e-book on a Kindle.

The two teenagers had been reading aloud from It’s All About the Sex Face: A Guide to Becoming a Celebrity, a no holds barred manual offering tips on how to achieve instant fame by producing a sex video.

The e-book, which costs £1.02 to download from Amazon, claims you can “actually become famous without even having a talent”.

Yes, apparently the concept of being a parent seems to have fallen out of favor in the UK. Clearly no one is bothering to monitor what kids are doing any more, but don’t worry. The NSPCC has some advice on what parents should do next:

Jon Brown, head of sexual abuse at the NSPCC, said: “It is really important to talk to your children about the risks that are out there either online or offline, in an age-appropriate way and without frightening them.

“Speak to them specifically about the risks of making a ‘sex tape’ and if it did get into the wrong hands, it could go viral online.

Parents! You Need to Go Talk to Your Kids About Not Making a Sex Tape! Do It Now! NOW! NOW!! HURRY!!!

Folks, I don’t know about you but I am laughing my ass off. I find moral panics to be hilarious, and the fact that the NSPCC is obviously clueless just adds to the joke. After all the attention that 50 Shades got last year is it really possible that there is anyone left in the world that doesn’t know that you can find adult content in ebookstores?

What do you think this group will discover next week, perhaps that kids can find porn online?

Seriously, this whole story is a hoot. I found it via Daily Mail and The Telegraph, and  am truly surprised at what gets printed these days.

Everyone knows that ebookstores sell all types of content, and that there’s no buying restrictions when shopping from an ereader. Why would anyone be surprised that this meant that kids could buy adult content?

Here’s an idea: pay more attention to what your kids are buying and reading. You wouldn’t just hand them a credit card and shove them in a music store, would you? So why would you let them have free reign on a Kindle?

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Comments


Peter August 22, 2013 um 10:07 pm

Hmm….wonder if these people know they’ve bought their kids their own portable porn-production studios in the form of cellphones.

Nah, probably too busy viewing Kindles with alarm.


David Goldfield August 23, 2013 um 10:30 am

I do feel that having a ratings system for books would not be a bad idea. If the publishers would cooperate and agree to a universal ratings system, ebook manufacturers could then allow for filtering controls which could appear in the parental controls section. This way, a parent could block their kids from being able to view or download books with specific ratings.


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