How to Block Porn on Any Device. For Free.

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The Internet is Full of Pornography

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Anyone who has spend any time searching for anything on the unfiltered Internet knows that explicit content is often just a few accidental clicks away. It’s for this reason that caring adults need to have a basic understanding of how the domain name system works. Through this understanding, parents can block most pornography.

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Understanding the Domain Name System (DNS)

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In the Internet Hall of Fame, we find Paul Mockapetris, who expanded the Internet beyond its academic origins by inventing the Domain Name System (DNS) in 1983.

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Think of DNS as the digital phonebook for the Internet. Humans look for information by typing in words like “protectyoungeyes.com” (also referred to as a “hostname”) while computers use IP addresses (a series of numbers) to communicate, like 123.45.678. The DNS translates the words into numbers so that the Internet can show humans what they’re looking for.

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Yes, every single time you type words into Google, there’s an entire translation system that’s attempting to take human-speak and turn it into computer-speak and then vice-versa.

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And located all around the world are DNS servers that house databases of public IP addresses and their associated hostnames, using that information to “resolve” or translate our Google searches into something understood by computers.

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Our Favorite Clean DNS Providers

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With the knowledge gained above, one can see that we can leverage a DNS server’s information to categorize and filter IP addresses, maybe preventing access to categories of inappropriate hostnames.

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For families with children, this often means wanting to block access to websites that are categorized as pornography, mature content, violence, weapons, and more. For adults who want to steer clear of potentially addictive content, that might mean just blocking IP addresses categorized as “pornography, sexualized content, and mature.”

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We do this by manually telling each of our digital devices to use a DNS server that prevents access to those categories. And, we’ll show you how if you keep reading!

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At Protect Young Eyes, there are two “clean” DNS server providers that we recommend to our families:

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• CleanBrowsing.org – is an organization started by a tech-genius dad who saw some weaknesses with OpenDNS that he wanted to solve for his own kids, including more control over image searches, mixed content sites (Imgur, Reddit), locking YouTube Restricted Mode, locking safe search on popular search engines, and more.
• OpenDNS – this is one of the world’s most popular clean DNS, namely their “Family Shield” set of blocked categories.

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My family is running the CleanBrowsing Family-level DNS (see below) on our home’s wireless router, Chromebook, and my personal iPhone.

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The CleanBrowsing Family-level DNS IP Addresses are:

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• 185.228.168.168
• 185.228.169.168

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This configuration blocks access to all adult, pornographic and explicit sites. It also blocks proxy and VPN domains that are used to bypass the filters. Mixed content sites (like Reddit and Imgur) are also blocked. Google, Bing, Yandex, DuckDuckGo and YouTube are set to the Safe Mode (yea!).

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If you’re really nerdy, and know what DNSCrypt is, you can read more about CleanBrowsing and DNSCrypt here.

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The CleanBrowsing Adult-level DNS IP Addresses are:

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• 185.228.168.10
• 185.228.169.11

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This configuration blocks access to all adult, pornographic and explicit sites. It does not block proxy or VPNs, nor mixed-content sites. Sites like Reddit are allowed. Google and Bing are set to the Safe Mode and YouTube is not restricted.

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The OpenDNS Family Shield DNS IP Addresses are:

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• 208.67.222.123
• 208.67.220.123

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The service blocks pornographic content, including “Pornography,” “Tasteless,” and “Sexuality” categories, in addition to proxies and anonymizers (which can render filtering useless). It also blocks phishing and some malware.

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How to Block Porn on Popular Devices Using DNS

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Now, let’s use a few well-placed IP addresses to keep the junk away from your precious young people (or teen people). **Clarity – everything you’re going to read below is very browser focused. Meaning, if you configure CleanBrowsing’s DNS on your iPhone or Android, it will do its work in Safari, Google, Chrome, Opera, Dolphin, or whatever internet search app you might use.

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In other words, this isn’t the silver bullet for Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok or other apps. You will have to depend on their own content controls, which have varying degrees of effectiveness.

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How to block porn on your wireless router.

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Too many families miss the significant step of controlling their wireless router. Make no mistake! You (parent) are responsible for every digital click that occurs on your WiFi! Every babysitter. Every relative. Please make sure you’ve eliminated the bad stuff before they even decide to connect their device to your home’s network.

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Here’s what you’ll need in order to do that:

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• Access to the router’s dashboard [here’s a comprehensive list of instructions for accessing the dashboard on various brands].
• Access to someone with a touch of IT knowledge (or a middle schooler, whoever is closer!).

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Once you have those two things, you’ll enter the clean DNS IP addresses above that you want. Also, make sure the router’s dashboard is password protected.

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**Special note for AT&T U-verse families (and anyone else with a router from an Internet Service Provider who won’t let you change the DNS settings). Unfortunately, those darn 2-Wire routers from AT&T and others are NOT configurable. This great article from CleanBrowsing explains how you can purchase another router, like the Gryphon Guardian, and use it in tandem with the U-Verse router.

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How to block porn on Chromebooks using DNS.

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Chromebooks are notoriously difficult to control. Recently, Family Link has improved so that it works well on Chromebooks. But, Family Link does not block porn effectively.

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But, here comes the Family DNS from CleanBrowsing to the rescue. Follow these steps:

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1. Log into the Chromebook using your child’s profile.
2. Click the profile in the lower right corner.
3. Click the gear.
4. Click the arrow to the right of the network connection in your home.
5. That should list all of the WIFI options the Chromebook is picking up. Again, click the arrow to the right of yours.
6. Click “Network.”
7. This should open up some options, one called “Name Servers.”
8. Click the radial button next to “Custom name servers.
9. Click the line that appears under that and type this: 185.228.168.168 (on the first line) and 185.228.169.168 (on the second line). These are CleanBrowsing’s DNS server addresses. If you prefer OpenDNS, then type in 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123.
10. Then click the back arrow at the top, next to your WIFI name.
11. Then “X” out of the settings in the upper right of the blue box. [Click for our popular Chromebook parental control guide]

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In summary for Chromebooks: CleanBrowsing (free for porn blocking) + Family Link + Bark ($14/month for email monitoring) or Mobicip ($39.99/year to cover many different types of devices) = really great protection for kids.

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Read our Complete Chromebooks Parental Controls Guide Today!

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How to block porn on iPhones, iPods, and iPads using DNS.

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Apple devices already come with really solid content filtering through Screen Time.

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But, by following the instructions below, you obtain more device-wide porn-blocking coverage than with just Screen Time alone.

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Follow these steps for setting CleanBrowsing’s DNS on your iOS device:

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• Tap the Settings app.
• Tap Wi-Fi.
• On the Wi-Fi network used most often, tap the blue “i” in the blue circle.
• Scroll down slightly until you see “Configure DNS.”
• Touch “Manual” (instead of “Automatic”).
• Delete everything under “DNS Servers” and “Search Domains” by tapping the white subtraction in the red circle.
• Tap “Add Server” under “DNS Servers” and type in 185.228.168.168 and then tap “Add Server” again and type in 185.228.169.168 – these are CleanBrowsing’s servers. If you prefer OpenDNS, then type in 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123.
• **Important!** Be sure to tap “Save” in the upper, right corner.
• Then, you can back arrow out.

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You’ll want to repeat this for each of the primary WiFi networks used by the device.

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But what about when the phone is using data and NOT WiFi? Keep reading!

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A Few Bonus Steps for Keeping an iOS Device Clean:

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• CleanBrowsing now has their own iOS app, which can lock in their settings on WiFi or data! It uses a VPN (read more about VPNs if unsure), and can be downloaded from the App Store for free

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Keep the App Store toggled off. Why? Because kids love downloading VPNs and evading all of your parental controls.

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• Related post: How to Turn off the App Store
• Related post: What’s a VPN?

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Black list certain sites – even with CleanBrowsing enabled. CleanBrowing has a few weak spots. You’d be good to add these to the “Never Allow” list in Screen Time (Settings -> Screen Time -> Content & Privacy Restrictions -> Content Restrictions -> enter passcode if you have one set -> Web Content -> Limit Adult Websites -> Never Allow):

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• Twitter.com
• Tumblr.com (CleanBrowsing blocks many pornographic Tumblr domains, but there’s too many for anyone to fully block)
• Instagram.com
• Flickr.com

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In summary for iOS: Screen Time (free) + CleanBrowsing (free for porn blocking) + Bark ($14/month for social media and iMessages) = awesome Apple protection for kids.

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How to block porn on Android devices (tablets, phones)

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CleanBrowsing makes it so easy because they have an Android App, which will lock in their IP address with a password!

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You can now find it in the Google Play Store.

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A Few Bonus Steps for Keeping an Android Device Clean:

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Lock in DNS Settings for WiFi and data! Similar to iOS above, you can use the DNS Changer app, which you can find in the Google Play Store. In the app, you can add the CleanBrowsing or OpenDNS IP address numbers above and set a pin for the app so that the clean DNS settings stay locked.

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The Google Play Store – Keep it Off! Enabling Google’s Family Link for both kids and teens can give you control over the apps they download so that they can’t download a VPN to circumvent your DNS controls.

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Black list certain sites – even with CleanBrowsing enabled. All clean DNS configurations have their weak spots. Family Link allows parents to “block” sites (same thing as a blacklist). A few weak spots for CleanBrowsing include:

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• Aol.com (image search has holes)
• Twitter.com
• Tumblr.com (CleanBrowsing blocks many pornographic Tumblr domains, but there’s too many for anyone to fully block)
• Instagram.com
• Flickr.com

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In summary for Android: CleanBrowsing (FREE) + Bark ($14/month for social media and iMessages) + Family Link (FREE) = awesome Android protection for kids.

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Pssst – if you’re an Android family, and you’re looking for a complete guide to protecting an Android device, and not just block porn, we’ve written a complete guide that you might want to check out!

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How to block porn on a Windows computer.

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CleanBrowsing gives amazing instructions for using the command prompt to lock in DNS, whether you chose to use theirs or OpenDNS (or another of your choosing).

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Related CleanBrowsing article: How to set clean DNS on a Windows computer

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How to block porn on a Mac computer.

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CleanBrowsing has great instructions for setting up its service on a MacBook.

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Related CleanBrowsing article: How to set clean DNS on a Mac computer

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Once you’ve followed those steps, then follow these screen shots in order to lock the changes into the Mac:

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How to block porn on a Kindle Fire HD.

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CleanBrowsing’s website has wonderful screenshots that you can follow -> just follow this link.

=> Use CleanBrowsing with Kindle Fire HD

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How to block porn on a Windows phone.

Just kidding. No one owns a Windows phone 🙂

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How to block porn on gaming systems and smart TVs.

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There are too many gaming systems and smart TV brands to name them all. Here are three keys for any of them: (1) control the router with clean DNS (2) enable whatever parental controls you can (we explain many in our Device section), and (3) set CleanBrowsing’s clean DNS on those devices, too. We list a few below, and you can Google the others!

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Setting manual DNS on Nintendo Switch

Setting manual DNS on PlayStation

Setting manual DNS on Xbox

For Smart TV’s, just Google “set manual DNS on [insert brand name]” and follow the instructions.

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But… don’t just block porn. Please talk openly about porn, too.

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Blocking porn is great, but blocking alone doesn’t prepare a child for what to do when he/she sees pornography for the first time. That’s right, not IF but WHEN! We’ve written extensively, for various organizations, about the significance of your voice and speaking openly and honestly about all of the awkward things that no one talked to you about.

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Related post: How to Talk to a 5-Year-Old About Porn

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Here’s a recent podcast we did with Equipped and Effective about talking openly with kids about social media, pornography, and other digital behaviors.

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So, there you go! Head back up and re-read the “In summary” statements above and protect your kids!

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P.S.

Both OpenDNS and CleanBrowsing have a monthly paid option, too. The OpenDNS paid version is really limited. On the other hand, CleanBrowsing provides a useful parent dashboard, a listing of sites visited, and more for just $2.99/month (discounted for PYE readers).

What if I have more questions? How can I stay up to date?

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Two actions you can take!

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1. Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. About every 3 weeks, we’ll share what’s new, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.
2. Ask your questions in our private parent community called The Table! It’s not another Facebook group. No ads, no algorithms, no asterisks. Just honest, critical conversations and deep learning! For parents who want to “go slow” together. Become a member today!

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