NYC shuts down web browsing at free internet kiosks because of course people used them for porn

(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

In November of 2015, New York City introduced LinkNYC, a network of free internet kiosks built in former payphone spots. They offered Wi-Fi access plus a tablet for those who didn't have their own mobile device to get online.

New Yorkers were supposed to use the kiosks to "save data on their mobile plans, call relatives across the country, and get a much-needed quick charge." Instead, they used them for pornography.

That's why, after eight months, the city has decided to disable internet access on the kiosk tablets. They'll still offer Wi-Fi, charging functionality, maps, phone calls, and emergency hotlines, but the days of browsing porn while standing on Fifth Avenue are over. "The kiosks were never intended for anyone's extended, personal use," the LinkNYC team said in a statement with a very "I'm not angry, just disappointed" vibe. The statement added that time limits for a single user may be another forthcoming change.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.