How to Block Inappropriate Content on Smartphone

What you do on the Internet will determine the likelihood and possibility of seeing inappropriate material. Performing a simple Internet search can lead to upsetting or confusing content. It’s possible for an advertisement to appear on a free game that presents explicit language or a video showing cartoon characters in adult situations.

Different types of content can easily be accessed by children and adults on the internet. Although the present generation has great opportunities, there’s a risk of being exposed to inappropriate content (even unintentionally).

Today, people have a much greater chance of interacting with inappropriate content thanks to technology. They can frequently visit inappropriate websites or download potentially harmful apps on smartphones and tablets wherever there is access to the internet.

When people use computers to access the internet, you can easily block potentially inappropriate websites for them. It can be accomplished by adding some Chrome extensions that restrict access to those sites. However, if they use a smartphone, it becomes much more difficult.

Inappropriate content is not the only danger posed by Internet access. It is also possible for people to experience profoundly negative mental effects when they are exposed to religious and political hatred.

Therefore, it is even more important to understand to block adult content on smartphones.

Effects of exposure to “adult content.”

Some of the effects of exposure to inappropriate adult content are:

• It’s not uncommon for sexual uncertainties to stem from dissatisfaction, anxiety, fear of the partner, and expectations that don’t match reality.
• Male and female consumers of pornographic materials engage in greater self-objectification and body surveillance.
• By viewing pornography frequently and with the intention of relieving negative emotions, those who view it frequently can become addicted to it and/or develop a sexual preoccupation.
• It is possible that pornography can affect attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge about sex and sexual practices.
• Adult content can convey potentially harmful messages about sex, gender, power, and pleasure.
• It can affect your work life as the addiction to adult content can cause loosen your focus and attention.

Where can one block inappropriate content?

• At home: Parents can create a safe digital environment at home by blocking inappropriate contents from the devices of their kids and teens.
• At work place: If you are an employer, you can block and restrict access to adult sites on your company devices that you provide to your employees. In this way, you can ensure that your employees are focusing only on work-related tasks on their devices.
• At school: Schools can block the access to inappropriate sites on their school devices to ensure that the students are accessing the internet for educational purposes only.

Blocking adult websites on Android

Restrict Google Play

When one uses Google Play Store frequently, they will likely come across many mature apps. In the absence of proper restriction, one may install adult dating apps and view sexually explicit content. To avoid that on Google Play, you can set the device’s account to restrict the type of content and apps one can download.

Note: When a person browses the Play Store, they may see restricted content. They can view the content, but not download it. Google Play also does not offer parental controls in every country.

Simply follow these steps for starting parental control in Google Play if you want to restrict explicit content.

1. Visit the Play Store on Google.
2. Go to the upper right corner of the screen and tap your profile icon. Depending on your device, you can tap three horizontal lines from the upper left corner.
3. Go to Settings and tap on it.
4. Next, choose Parental control. Some devices allow you to select Parental Controls after selecting the Family option.
5. Click on the Parental Controls button to ensure parental controls are enabled.
6. Once that is done, set a security pin to keep your children from changing the settings.
7. Then press OK.
8. Select Apps & Games from the menu.
9. Tap the Save button after you have specified an age restriction.

With this, one will not be able to access mature and adult content on the Google Play Store.

Safe Search

The Google Play Store, for those of you who don’t know, allows you to control the apps that are allowed to access on a smartphone. When you enable Safe Search, you can prevent accidentally downloading adult content from the internet or Google Play Store because this feature prevents them from finding it.

Enable Safe Search on Google App

1. Open the Google App on your Android device.
2. Tap on your profile picture located at the top right of your screen.
3. Select Settings
4. Tap on Hide Explicit Results.
5. Then finally enable Safe Search by turning on the “Explicit results filter” toggle button.

Enable Safe Search on Mobile Browser

1. Open the Chrome browser on your Android device.
2. Go to the Google SafeSearch settings.
3. Finally enable “Explicit results filter” to enable Safe Search on mobile browser.

Internet FIltering Apps

By blocking the wrong content on Android phones, you can create a safe online environment for your kids, employees or students. It is good to have security enabled in the browser, but it does not provide accurate results. As a result, internet filtering apps are important if you want to avoid all the threats that can occur from your smartphone.

The advantage of internet filtering apps versus the tips previously discussed is that it does not require access to the device once it is installed, making them unique.

You can block or unblock applications and websites remotely. These apps will also show you what websites a person is voting on the target phone.

With an app like Fenced.AI, you can gain access to all the information from your target phone right away. There will be no problem in detecting any sensual content they attempt to download from the internet or find on social media.

Many internet filtering apps are available that you can use to block access to specific websites, videos, images, and content from certain categories:

• fenced.ai
• FamilyTime

With these software, it is possible for a smartphone to be excluded from nearly every category that may affect the mental health of the user. You can block them from viewing any inappropriate websites simply by providing the URL to these apps.

Using a Firewall

If you want to go that extra mile, you can also use a firewall to block websites on Android. Initially, you could use a firewall without root access, but most firewalls require root access. A number of firewalls exist, but one encapsulates all of their features: NoRoot Firewall. A simple application with minimal requirements, this application is easy to use and navigate.

Domain names, IP addresses, and hostnames can be used for filtering. Even how apps connect can be controlled. The following steps will help you block a website once you have installed NoRoot Firewall:

1. To access the global filters, open the app and choose Global Filters in the top right corner.
2. You can select a new pre-filter by selecting the New Pre-filter option.
3. If you want the website blocked on both Wi-Fi and data connections, click on both icons.
4. You can block a website by entering its address.
5. Press OK after selecting * on the Port tab.
6. You can start the application by clicking the Home tab.

It’s that simple! As of right now, this app can’t be used over LTE since IPv6 isn’t supported.

Conclusion

Keeping an eye on your kids, employees or students behavior can benefit you in the long run. They might be tempted by something unhealthy or destructive. One way to ensure that they use their phone responsibly is by using internet filtering tools.

However, you must not lose sight of the fact that you are your most reliable tool. A child, teenager, student or employee who is determined to find pornography online almost cannot be stopped by a technical block. Be sure to talk to them about appropriate and inappropriate content; don’t treat it as just a one-time conversation.