Posted on 07/20/2013 11:04:37 AM PDT by rickmichaels
TORONTO – Tim Hortons has apologized for blocking a gay and lesbian news website from its free in-store Wifi networks.
The popular Canadian coffee chain was facing an online backlash Friday after it was revealed that it restricted customers from accessing Dailyxtra.com, the online home for the free newspaper Xtra that’s distributed in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
When the publication asked that the site be unblocked, assuming it might have been blacklisted in error, it received an email stating the site was “not appropriate for all ages viewing in a public environment.”
“We try to ensure that all of our guests can enjoy a safe and pleasant experience when visiting us. We look at all of these types of requests in detail in order to provide the most latitude we can while keeping our restaurants a friendly environment,” reads an email from the address timhortonswifi@timhortons.com, which Daily Xtra forwarded to The Canadian Press.
“While there is no way to change this decision, we can assure you that it was not an easy decision to make.”
On Friday afternoon a few hours after Twitter users began promising to boycott Timmies spokeswoman Michelle Robichaud apologized on behalf of the company and blamed a third-party service provider for the error and the resulting miscommunication.
Dailyxtra.com “shouldn’t have been blocked, in fact we’re working on unblocking it, it may already be unblocked, it should’ve never been blocked in the first place,” Robichaud said in an interview.
“We certainly appreciate when people bring this kind of stuff to our attention and the statement made by our WiFi vendor was made in error.”
Daily Xtra publisher and editor-in-chief Brandon Matheson accepted the apology and said Tim Hortons made the right decision.
“I think they’ve resolved the situation in a proper way. We had customers at Tim Hortons complaining to us, their customers complaining to us that they could not access our site,” he said.
“I know the issues around third-party filtering are problematic at times, so if that is what was responsible, and after Tim Hortons actually learned of the situation they stepped in and corrected the matter, then certainly they took the appropriate steps.”
See not just conservatives get blocked on the internet (Kirk Cameron), but liberals do too.....lol. /sarc
they should not apologize for doing the right thing
Why? political correctness is killing the free world.
The statement which read, " “not appropriate for all ages viewing in a public environment.” “We try to ensure that all of our guests can enjoy a safe and pleasant experience when visiting us. We look at all of these types of requests in detail in order to provide the most latitude we can while keeping our restaurants a friendly environment,” Is THAT the statement?
yep. Its their wifi they can block what they want
“gay” (what a grim group of people) victimidation again, and the site probably IS unsuitable for young ages, as even some “gay” groups are honest enough to admit who want to keep the roughest stuff to full adults.
Good grief. Where does this all stop? Homosexual literature and websites can get quite filthy. Everybody will want their foot in the door. Polygamists and pedophiles also think that the public misunderstands them and they are friends to kids.
Don’t give in to the nazis. The moment you apologize they see your weakness and go in with open fangs.
Do we have a volunteer to check out its “appropriateness”?
As was said, it’s their wifi service, used on their terms and conditions.
Wow, penalized for not providing a free service.
Sounds like Obama Care.
From the website: Midori’s guide to blowjobs and bondage.
Perfectly appropriate for all ages. Just ask Dan Savage.
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