Starbucks to start blocking pornography on its Wi-Fi in 2019

Starting in 2019, customers at Starbucks will no longer be able to view pornography using the coffee shop’s Wi-Fi network, the company announced this week.

A spokesperson for the company told NBC News on Thursday that the viewing of “egregious content” has always violated the java giant’s policy.

But now, after years of pressure, the company plans to introduce a new tool next year to prevent customers from watching porn in its shops.

{mosads}”We have identified a solution to prevent this content from being viewed within our stores and we will begin introducing it to our U.S. locations in 2019,” the representative said.

The move arrives after a petition from internet-safety advocacy group Enough is Enough, calling on the coffee company to filter pornographic content, gathered more than 26,000 signatures.

The nonprofit organization first reportedly launched a porn-free campaign aimed at Starbucks in 2014. 

In 2016, Enough is Enough CEO Donna Rice Hughes told NBC News that the company had started having “active discussions with organizations on implementing the right, broad-based solution that would remove any illegal and other egregious content.” 

But Hughes said the company didn’t go far enough at the time.

“Starbucks has had a tremendous opportunity to put its best foot forward in protecting its customers from images deemed obscene and illegal under the law, but they haven’t budged, despite their promise two years ago and despite the fact that they voluntarily filter this same content in the UK,” Hughes continued in the statement.

Hughes said Enough is Enough ran a campaign thanking Starbucks in 2016 but this time she says the company “won’t get an applause until they’ve actually implemented safe Wi-Fi filtering.”

“This time we’re going to wait and see, and we’re going to keep the pressure on,” Hughes said.