
iOS Screen Time setting blocks searches for “Asian” - mortenjorck
https://twitter.com/charliestigler/status/1229845987864109056
======
rahuldottech
> _iOS built-in adult content filter blocks all searches with the keyword
> "Asian,” assuming it's porn-related. Which means a 12 y/o Chinese-American
> girl might Google "Asian hairstyles" and find out that her culture is
> blocked as "adult content."_

> _Searches like "teen mental health resources" are also blocked, because
> "teen" is on the blacklist. Which is so dumb for a feature that's probably
> being used BY TEENS!_

Wow. One of the biggest tech companies in the world, people.

~~~
leokennis
The entire screen time feature is incredibly lame and half assed. As is 50% of
Apples output these days.

If you really need to monitor/block your child's online behavior (and cannot
handle it with a good talk/trust/etc.), give
[https://nextdns.io/](https://nextdns.io/) a try:

* Set up a profile on their site, for example with blocking of porn and enforcing of safe search

* Install the app on their iPhone and link to the config

* Set a passcode on the app

~~~
rekoil
Can't the child just delete the app, do the deed, and reinstall the app? Or
just disable the VPN temporarily for that matter.

~~~
dangus
I would think that an MDM like Jamf Now could enforce iOS settings.

------
deg4uss3r
Sounds like their recognition model wasn't tested for false correlations...

------
cstigler
Oh hi! I don't really use Twitter, but I noticed this and wanted to help it
get on the right people's radars.

Apple's scale is what makes this especially unacceptable. How many children
and teens around the world are using iOS devices with parental restrictions
enabled? There is a huge audience dealing with this incredibly poorly-
engineered and poorly-considered feature.

~~~
millstone
If you honestly hope to get onto the right people's radar, I encourage you to
literally file a Radar! [https://developer.apple.com/bug-
reporting/](https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/)

As for "huge audience" \- I mean, if so, wouldn't it have been noticed years
ago? The feature is buried three dialogs deep and doesn't work well; Apple
should probably just remove it.

~~~
cstigler
I obviously don't have the actual stats, but I think this is widely used by
parents (of the parents I know, usage of the various Screen Time restrictions
seems standard, which makes sense to me).

Why hasn't it been noticed? The user isn't the customer. Parents enable the
feature, but I doubt they actually _use_ the iPad with filters on and look at
what it's blocking. One of the first replies to my tweet was a mom who _had_
been asked by their child yesterday why they'd blocked the word "teen"[1] -
and of course they didn't know!

And great idea on filing a Radar as well! (I already backchanneled this to a
couple friends who work at Apple, so hopefully it just gets duped to their
reports.)

[1]
[https://twitter.com/drivingmzstacey/status/12298581552380231...](https://twitter.com/drivingmzstacey/status/1229858155238023168)

~~~
lostlogin
Any blocking can lead to confusing and non obvious results - another reason to
oppose ISPs and states doing it. I run a block list (2 million or so URLs in
Pihole) for reducing adverting and tracking. The things that happen can be
unpredictable and unexpected, particularly because issues are rarely
encountered. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if users of this iOS feature have
had problems and haven’t known the source or reported them (even when there is
an error message).

