How to Effectively Block Porn (Updated for 2024)
Implement a porn blocking system for more effective blocking on all devices. When blocking adult content, you'll increase your chances of success by creating a Blocking System - multiple porn blockers and bypass prevention layers that work together - instead of relying on a single porn blocker app.
Blocking Porn with a DNS Content Policy
Layer 1 of my system involves a more comprehensive porn blocker using a DNS Content Policy. With this approach, you can filter the internet connection on your device to comprehensively restrict access to adult content. You can connect basically any type of smartphone, computer, or even home router to a DNS content policy.
To get started, specify the blocking rules in your DNS Content Policy to filter out pornographic content and even block specific apps. In addition to creating block rules, you can also enforce Google SafeSearch and even YouTube restricted mode, which helps filter out explicit content within those platforms.
Comprehensive App and Website Filtering
Blocking content with a content policy is ideal because it can comprehensively block content based on categories you select so that you don't have to specify each website you want to block. When blocking pornographic content, you might consider a more granular category selection to include "softer" related sub-categories.
Furthermore, if you are trying to block applications, you might need to block more than one domain. For example, if you want to block tiktok, its not enough to block tiktok.com. The TikTok app would still work. You have to also block a few other domains like tiktokcdn.com to cause the app to stop functioning properly. A simpler way to do this is to customize your content policy to specify an app you want to block. For example, selecting the YouTube app would block youtube.com and all associated domains that the app depends on.
| Feature | Description of the Blocking System |
|---|---|
| DNS Content Policy | Filters the internet connection to restrict access to adult content on smartphones, computers, or routers. |
| Category Blocking | Comprehensively blocks content based on selected categories without specifying each individual website. |
| App Integration | Customizes policies to specify an app to block, disabling both the app and its web browser version. |
| SafeSearch | Enforces Google SafeSearch and YouTube restricted mode within those platforms. |
Blocking Apps that Show Explicit Content
One of the benefits of using a Content Policy to block pornographic content is that you can also comprehensively disable apps that you might want to block as well. It's difficult to quit porn when also using apps like TikTok. This is because certain social media websites can trigger cravings in the brain that lead to seeking out more extreme content. Also, it's quite easy to find explicit content on within these platforms, which leads many people to block them entirely.
If you use a smartphone's parental control feature to block an app, usually this will just prevent that specific app from being opened. However, the app can still be opened via the web browser, which means that you have to block the associated app domains to disable the web browser version as well. With a content policy, blocking an app will effectively disable both the app downloaded on the device and the version accessed in the web browser.
Another strategy you can use is to block the entire social media category, but selectively whitelist social media apps that are known to be safe. This is an ideal approach since you can't possibly keep up with every problematic social media app out there, but you know which ones are safe to use.
Scheduling Social Media and Internet Usage
Another reason why a DNS Content Policy is a core part of my recommend blocking system is that you can schedule internet usage: when you access certain apps or websites and even the entire internet. It's simple to do this by first editing your DNS Content Policy to select a category, app, or domain that should be blocked. Then, assign a schedule to that rule. You can pick days of the week and time ranges to apply the block. This approach is ideal because it takes 4g/5g connections into account, not just your home Wifi.
Here are some scheduling considerations when trying to break adult content addiction:
- Social Media
- Video Streaming apps like YouTube
- The entire internet (at night)
You should also set internet shut off times at night, which is when many people tend to struggle the most with willpower.