SALT LAKE CITY — As a majority of the sane world watched with no small befuddlement yesterday when Utah governor Spencer J. Cox signed into law a ridiculous piece of legislation mandating that every electronics manufacturer on the planet commission and place “porn filters” on any device sold in the state by 2022, many subsequently asked a very simple question: Why?
After all, it was one thing for Susan Pulsipher, an obscure State Representative and a former realtor with no known tech expertise, to insist in introducing a piece of base-pleasing censorship legislation that even some of her fellow Republicans rejected as impractical, unconstitutional and overreaching.
Pulsipher’s “porn filter” crusade was rejected in commission last year, and looked like it was headed for the same fate this February during hearings she organized. But then a few things happened in sequence that speedily propelled this bizarre bill through the State House and Senate approval, landing it on Cox’s desk earlier this month with the governor’s telling refusal to veto it or allow it lapse, unsigned.
First, Pulsipher got the nation’s leading (and best-funded) anti-porn organization, NCOSE (formerly Morality in Media) to come to Utah to lobby for the bill by offering their typical blend of exaggeration, moral panic and outright propaganda.
Then she obtained the support of some of the Republicans that opposed the measure as a ridiculous waste of the State legislature’s time — a common question went something like, “Why would a multinational Apple change their protocols just for the puny Utah gadget market?” — by agreeing to a similarly bizarre amendment stating that the law would not go into place until five additional states passed copycat legislation within 10 years.
Finally, in a move that surprised Salt Lake City capitol observers, the amended bill breezed through the House and the Senate, forcing the governor into either condoning the ridiculous mandate, or going against the gleeful will of his party’s own legislators.
But behind the push that propelled Susan Pulsipher — a name, again, so absurdly appropriate that it echoes that of witchhunter Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer, the joy-killing patriarch in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s “Good Omens” — and her impractical demands for “porn filters” lies another tale: that of the Mormon church’s obsession with both pornography and the “filtering” of it for deeply religious reasons.
The Patriarchy vs. ‘The Adversary’
Mormonism is quite literally a patriarchy. The religion is organized around male leadership both in the church and the family household. As such, pornography presents a double challenge: it is seen as a source of demonic temptation against the spiritual strength of men (almost exclusively men) and also as a kind of intruder attempting to enter the household and attack the rest of the family.
Utah’s obsession with “filtering” comes straight from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints literature on these two dimensions of what they see as a ploy by “the adversary” (aka Satan, Lucifer, the Devil, the Father of Lies, the Prince of Darkness, perdition) to destroy Mormon households.
In April 2010, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched, with much fanfare, a dedicated website to give advice to the faithful on how to “filter” the entrance of pornography into their homes. Originally called CombatingPornography.org, the URL currently leads to a domain name broker in Poland because, at some point in the last decade, the LDS church decided to rebrand the page to OvercomingPornography.lds.org.
The renaming of the website was consistent with a deliberate branding and marketing effort by organizations that object to porn on a purely religious basis. These organizations have successfully shifted from belligerent War on Porn language (like “combating pornography”) towards pseudo-scientific claims about public health (“overcoming pornography” as one would a disease).
More recently, the LDS church has again changed the language again to something quite anodyne: OvercomingPornography.lds.org now redirects to a page called “Addressing Pornography.”
Outdated ‘Resources’ for the Faithful
The “Addressing Pornography” website currently includes a “Resources” page with a variety of LDS-endorsed material for Mormons who are troubled by pornography.
But the inspirational content is paltry for someone consulting it in 2021: only seven items, the most recent from 2012. Some of the materials go back to the 1980s.
The 2012 article, called “Keeping Safe & Balanced in a Google-YouTube-Twitter-Facebook-iEverything World,” warns that children can “with a few small clicks, unintentionally steer a computer or a smartphone app from the newest Mormon Message to an image created by man’s darkest imaginings.”
According to the article children should not be allowed to use “digital devices” until they are older. But the following section immediately goes into “Internet content filters.”
Filters, the LDS-endorsed author proclaims, “are as important to your family’s spiritual well-being as a child lock on a cupboard full of toxic cleaning supplies is to a toddler’s physical safety.”
The site encourages Mormons to download and install filtering software, check their modem or DLS routers for extra filters, add proxy filters from the ISP and to switch all the available “kids’ safe mode” offered by Google, YouTube and the like.
The section ends with the admonition that “by far the most important and effective type of filter is inside the mind and heart of the user.”
‘Ask for Angels to Help You’
The next article offered to Mormons in 2021 is from 2010 and was written by a patriarchal-looking church Elder, who blames the Devil himself for “immoral messages.”
“Tragically,” wrote Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “the same computer and internet service that allows me to do my family history and prepare those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions that could blast a crater in their brains forever.”
“And just to make sure that temptation is ever more accessible, the adversary is busy extending his coverage, as they say in the industry, to cell phones, video games and MP3 players,” Elder Holland warned.
Elder Holland advices Mormon men (the article is squarely directed to “husbands”) who may be accidentally exposed to pornography to “talk to your bishop. Follow his counsel. Ask for a priesthood blessing. Use the Church’s Family Services offerings or seek other suitable professional help. Pray without ceasing. Ask for angels to help you.”
“Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control,” Elder Holland continues. “Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it. Many of these influences, at least initially, may not technically be evil, but they can blunt our judgment, dull our spirituality and lead to something that could be evil.”
“An old proverb says that ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,’ so watch your step,” Elder Holland concludes.
The LDS ‘Family Safety Wiki’
The LDS church offers among these already technically obsolete articles (MP3 players?) a more up-to-date resource in the form of an updated “Family Safety Wiki,” which includes an entire section on “Internet Filtering (Family Safety)”.
This official LDS wiki is even more explicit about the religiously motivated Mormon obsession with “filtering” pornography and other “harmful” content.
“Why get a filter?” the wiki’s FAQ asks.
“For many years the Brethren have warned us of the dangers that accompany the Internet, and have counseled us to employ some technological barriers to the unending flow of filth that permeates the otherwise wonderful and extremely useful virtual world of the Internet,” an anonymous LDS-church endorsed editor wrote.
“Recall President Hinckley’s warning in 2002, when he said: ‘Guard your homes. How foolish it seems to install bars and bolts and electronic devices against thieves and molesters while more insidious intruders stealthily enter and despoil,’ or more recently when Elder Oaks told us in April conference, 2005: ‘We must also act to protect those we love. Parents install alarms to warn if their household is threatened by smoke or carbon monoxide. We should also install protections against spiritual threats, protections like filters on Internet connections’.”
This obsession with “filtering,” it soon becomes apparent, is considered a husbandly duty, part of the head of the family’s responsibility for keeping his household in order and improve surveillance on his spiritual dependents.
“All of these features help keep our family safe, and help provide us with more information regarding how our computers are being used,” the wiki explained. “From this perspective, it would be safe to say that filters work.”
The Need to Survey and Control
But if the intro claims that these filters should be installed to prevent “accidental” access to content, the rest of the questions make it perfectly clear that the filter mentality has more to do with blocking women and older minors from deliberately accessing the material.
“One of the unfortunate side-effects of installing a filter is the false sense of security that it provides,” the wiki admonishes. “Most teenagers can get around just about any filter if they really want to, and parents need to know how this is done so they can watch for the warning signs. Also, be sure to use the tools that the filter provides, such as usage reports [and] blocked site reports. A filter is not a silver bullet, and it is not a set-it-and-forget-it solution.”
A constant need to survey and control the family are key to understanding the Mormon obsession with these filters. “It is a good practice to place the computer in a public place, and to limit the use of the Internet to times that others are around,” the wiki advises.
“Let’s consider the content on the Internet to be analogous to mail that is delivered to your home,” the article continues. “A filter could be thought of as a guard that is hired to sort through your mail before it is delivered to you. This guard could be asked to remove any junk mail, or even mail from any individual or company, and set it aside so you don’t have to deal with it. The guard would then review each piece of mail before handing it to you.”
“Filters work in similar fashion, sorting through the content that your computer requests, and preventing certain content from entering your home.”
Software filters are “like putting a guard at your front door. A software filter looks at data as it arrives on your machine. It is important to note that because the filter is actually installed on your computer, the bad content will exist on your computer, but the filter intercepts it before it displays on the screen.”
NetAngel and Covenant Eyes
The official LDS wiki also gives recommendations to heads of household on filters “to block pornography.” Even more commercial filters are promoted via the official LDW website’s page linking to “Outside Sources,” a page that includes War on Porn allies across denominational lines (NCOSE) and covertly Mormon-associated groups like Fight the New Drug.
Mixed with more clearly non-denominational commercial filters like Norton, the LDS church endorses two clearly religious companies that would profit from initiatives like Susan Pulsipher’s mandatory porn filter requirements — NetAngel and Covenant Eyes.
According to the LDS “Family Safety Wiki,” NetAngel is “a cloud-based solution that protects all devices (computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, gaming consoles). This filter uses blacklists as well as true content filtering (where it scans every webpage for objectionable content). The most unique feature of the NetAngel filter is the instant alerts. A text message is sent to a parent or spouse whenever a site is blocked in realtime. This invites conversations to happen about appropriate internet usage. This service is free when protecting one device or computer. NetAngel also supports specific routers and also sells preconfigured routers to protect your entire WiFi network with a premium subscription.”
Other than how exactly the “objectionable content” is classified and by whom (does it censor, for example, sex ed or non-sexual LGBTQ+ content?), that description looks techie enough to be convincing; that is, until one goes to the NetAngel “about us” page where instead of describing the company’s tech bona fides, it declares the following:
- Pornography in all forms is destructive to individuals, families and society.
- Intimacy and Sexual Attraction are natural and appropriate within appropriate limits.
- We believe healthy human relationships are the foundation to avoiding and overcoming pornography. This requires: a) A desire to avoid or overcome pornography; b)Willingness to be completely honest and transparent; c) Accountability, acceptance, and responsibility for one’s own actions; d) An understanding that Guilt and Shame are not the same thing: i. Guilt is a sense of remorse for discord in behavior and values, which motivates an individual to change in a positive way; ii.Shame is a discord in behavior and values which negatively motivates an individual to hide the behavior rather than change.
- Technology can be an aid, not a solution, to pornography: a) We believe education about pornography and responsible technology use are essential to preventing and overcoming pornography addiction; b) Instant notification can aid in timely positive human intervention
- Pornography addiction is a real disorder that can be overcome with proper support and treatment by professionals.
- NetAngel is not religiously affiliated.
- We do not believe legislation is the solution to the problem, but encourage concerned parties to be involved politically to shape legislation as dictated by their own conscience.
This is followed by a video testimonial by the NetAngel co-founder declaring himself a “pornography addict.”
Covenant Eyes is even more blatant about its mission. As XBIZ reported in 2019, Covenant Eyes is the brainchild of religious activist Ron DeHaas, offering what they call “accountability software” from a small office in Owosso, Michigan, somewhere between Flint and Lansing.
The company employs a Director of Church & Ministry Outreach, apparently something like a targeted sales agent for their product. “Talk about porn to everyone — and regularly,” Director of C&M Outreach Karen Potter advised in an article titled “3 Keys to Creating a Strong Battle Plan to Fight Porn in Your Church.”
At the time influential D.C. news source Congressional Quarterly, published a laudatory profile of Covenant Eyes in its Roll Call vertical.
“Evangelical groups are turning to artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies to help their members fight addiction to online pornography in a budding industry that one scholar calls an emerging ‘purity-industrial complex’,” wrote CQ’s tech reporter Gopal Ratnam.
Covenant Eyes’ service makes churchgoers input their porn usage and leave it in the hands of his small staff, so it can be shared with designated “allies.”
“Partner Up to Defeat Porn,” their website invites. “Your allies will receive comprehensive reports of your screen activity, lessening the temptation to look at porn.”
The Ghost of CleanFlicks
Those with longer cultural memories may remember CleanFlicks, a company founded in Utah in 2000 that rented and sold their own “chaste” edits of Hollywood movies.
CleanFlicks would copy copyrighted films onto their own DVDs and VHS tapes, editing out and muting from the audio what their team of censors considered “unclean,” which included any and all sexual content, profanities and references to the name of God in vain.
When the the world outside Utah took notice of CleanFlicks in the early 2000s, it reacted with the same mixture of amusement and WTF-ness that met reports of Susan Pulsipher’s bill.
Eventually, Hollywood studios sued CleanFlicks into the ground for the obvious copyright infringement issues. The company eventually refocused on making a list of wholesome movies that they were happy to distribute, but they went under in a few years, unable to compete with Netflix on the open market.
Pulsipher said last week that her law “doesn’t take the place of good parenting. It doesn’t take the place of family rules or family discussions. It’s just a tool to help good parents be good parents [and] nothing would prevent adults from deactivating the content blockers and viewing pornography if they chose.”
But Pulsipher doesn’t really believe this is an honest choice. Her “porn filter” bill — which is now actually a law that belongs to Governor Cox and the majority of the Utah political establishment — is only the latest in a long-running chain of odd, “only in Utah LOL” news items that really stems from the Mormon church’s obsession with porn as a demonic ploy to destroy the household, and their male leaders.