Thank You, McDonald's!
 

Dear Friends, Supporters and Partners: 

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Because of your faithful partnership and dedication in supporting our efforts to make the Internet safer for children and families, we have a major victory to share with you!

McDonald's is now filtering their public Wifi to block both child pornography and pornography in approximately 14,000 stores nationwide. Your support has been key in this awesome success story with McDonald's. Join us in sending a Thank you to McDonald's and we will send your thank you directly to our contact at McDonald's!

Yesterday, we sent out this press release to praise McDonald's for protecting children and families by offering safe friendly WiFi.

As a result of the National Porn Free Wi-Fi campaign launched in the fall of 2014, followed by over 50,000 concerned citizens like you signing our petition to the CEO's of both McDonald's and Starbucks to keep America's children and families safe on their public WiFi, we got the attention of McDonald's. They were very responsive and began to to filter their restaurants' Wi-Fi from harmful access to p*rn and child porn in the first quarter of 2016! That's right - predators can no longer fly under the radar of law enforcement to access child pornography on McDonald's free Wifi. 

While McDonald's wasn't aware of any pornography related incidents in their stores, their move to offer filtered WiFi is clearly one more major step in the right direction. The bottom line: Parents and families can have peace of mind that children and teens and all patrons will have a safe, friendly WiFi experience. Here's what McDonald's Global Communications Director had to say: 

As you know, we heard back from McDonald's after my initial letter to them in 2014. This effort has been a long time in the making, as McDonald's told us over a year ago that they were seeking out effectively filtering solutions. Visit the NEW friendly wifi section  of our website to track the history of this two-year campaign. 

Join us in saying bravo, McDonald's, for protecting children and families from online child porn and exploitation. You can join us in thanking McDonald's by:

1. E-mailing a thank you: Add your name to the ever-growing list of thank you's by clicking here. 
2. Tweet to McDonald's: You could say something like: .@McDonalds thanks for blocking access to child p*rn by filtering your public wifi! #FriendlyWifi.
3. Tag them on our Facebook page, and be sure to by "like" and "follow" our page for up-to-date happenings on this campaign. 

Finally, here is a link to some of the wonderful media coverage we have received thus far. The top three articles, including my op-ed coverage on FOX News, are included. 

Lastly, in order to go to the next level and leverage this awesome victory with McDonald's, we need your financial support. As you know, EIE is a tax-deductible organization. Any amount -   $500, $250, $100, $50, $25, or even $10 - helps to ensure more victories to protect children from online exploitation. Any amount is appreciated! 

Together, we are making the Internet safer for children and families. We are grateful for you. You're making a difference... From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all that you do.

Gratefully,

PS: Be on the lookout for another e-mail from me next week where I will announce the next phase of this campaign -  to get Starbucks to filter their WiFi as they proudly do in the U.K. The battle continues on!