Officials with the popular online safe-search filter Symantec have announced that the security firm is ending its practice of blocking links to mainstream gay and lesbian advocacy groups for users hoping to avoid obscene sites, according to reports by The Associated Press.
Online security firm Symantec told AP that while customers can still set their search to block offensive websites, there will no longer be an option to block websites just because they relate to sexual orientation.
Fran Rosch, executive vice president of Norton Business Unit, Symantec, said, “Making this change was not only the right thing to do, it was a good business decision. Having a category in place that could be used to filter out all LGBT-oriented sites was inconsistent with Symantec’s values and the mission of our software.”
