Internet giant Yahoo said Friday it would remove pornographic material from its Web networks in response to consumer complaints and a Saudi fatwa that called for a boycott of the company, said reports.
The company, which has been struggling amid the slump in the Internet industry and slipping online advertising, confirmed earlier this week that it had set up a separate "adult and erotica" shopping area.
Several customers bombarded Yahoo with emails in protest at news that the company was expanding its online offerings of porn videos, said the BBC.online.
Company president Jeff Mallett said Yahoo had responded swiftly to its users' concerns.
Analysts had noted that Yahoo, which relies heavily on online ads, was seeking to capitalize on one of the most profitable areas of e-commerce, said AFP.
Yahoo’s online advertising revenue, the source of 90 percent of its income in 2000, has fallen dramatically with the decline of dot.com companies.
But in the face of protests and even a proposed boycott by a Saudi religious leader, the firm reversed itself.
The company, which has a global audience of some 185 million, said that in the next few weeks it would eliminate the pornographic videos and digital video disks, currently available on its shopping, auction and classified sections, AFP said.
In addition, Yahoo said in a statement that it will no longer enter into new contracts for adult-related banner advertisements.
"At Yahoo, we value the strong relationships we have with our members and have consistently listened to them," said Mallett.
Yahoo has insisted that its offerings were not new and that it only acted as an intermediary for various shopping sites, according to the BBC. Yahoo gets a sales commission from merchants each time they make a sale through a Yahoo link.
"While Yahoo has offered controlled access to adult products available via the Internet since launching our commerce services more than two years ago, many of our users voiced concerns this week about some of the products sold by merchants on Yahoo Shopping," Mallett said.
"We heard them and swiftly responded."
In light of the news reports, the Washington-based American Family Association called for a criminal investigation of Yahoo "for its direct involvement in the sale and distribution of obscene material and child pornography," AFP added.
"Because Yahoo has such a dominant presence on the Internet, it must not be allowed to flaunt federal law," said Patrick Trueman, an attorney for the association.
"To allow it to do so will surely encourage many more mainstream companies with a dot-com presence to also embrace the obscenity industry."
On Friday, Saudi Arabia's mufti, the highest religious authority, urged followers to boycott Yahoo for its role as a porn online middleman.
"I advise Muslims browsing the Internet to be wary of suspect sites that seek material interest at the expense of morals. We must boycott them," Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh told the Asharq al-Aswsat newspaper – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
