TIME FOR VIGILANCE
February 27, 2007
On Tuesday evening, February 20, Telus decided to suspend its newly instituted adult-content service. The company had heard from a broad range of its customers, shareholders and religious leaders who did not support the availability of pornographic material on their cellphones.
We at the Centre for Moral Clarity are thankful for the decision to suspend the availability of pornographic material, but this is not the time to let our guard down. Telus’ initiative in providing this service to Canadian customers should be seen as an indication of where the cellphone industry is going, not possibly but with certainty. A majority of decisions that we have seen made in Canada in the last two to three years have been about testing the tolerance level of Canadian society, from swinging clubs, to three parents; progressively minded influencers have attempted to breakdown and then rebuild our understanding of morality. Canadians in the last few weeks have responded with confidence, we do not want the pornography industry to be supported in any way by companies that meet our communication needs.
We need to stay vigilant in our scrutiny of this issue, or we risk being blindsided. Telus made a decision to test the Canadian market and now the industry will work towards changing the public perception of wireless porn, because billions of dollars are at stake. Europe has a huge market for downloadable porn, and we are not too far behind them. Telus spokesperson, Janet Yale, executive vice president of corporate affairs, would not close the door on ever offering the wireless porn service again. She was quoted as saying: “It’s not appropriate for any business to say never means never.”
So again, we commend Telus, but we hold them to an elevated standard, to keep showing responsibility on this issue. Your voice still needs to be heard so please encourage Telus in their stand. You can send them a short letter thanking them for the suspension.
TELUS Mobility Client Care
200 Consilium Place, Suite 1600
Scarborough, Ontario,
Canada
M1H 3J3
