McDonald's will make a decision today about its internet filtering system after complaints of gay websites being blocked through the restaurants' new free Wi-Fi service.
People trying to access the lifestyle website GayNZ.com discovered they could not find the site, among others, and the website challenged the fast-food giant - which offers free WiFi access in 132 of its restaurants nationwide -- to review its access policy.
Rainbow Youth, a support website for gay young people, is also one of the blocked sites.
"Obviously there is a flaw in their approach, websites like Rainbow Youth are not of any danger to young people, it is for young people to make informed decisions for themselves and the culture they are involved in," executive director Todd Hamilton told Radio New Zealand.
There appeared to be no consistency in the company's policy, GayNZ.com said.
A NZ Aids Foundation site was not blocked but Family Planning, Rainbow Youth, Agender and others were.
McDonald's said it was a family restaurant chain, and as part of offering the Wi-Fi service, its policy was that content must be of a family friendly nature, or suitable for a child to view.
McDonald's managing director Mark Hawthorn said standard filtering software was used and there was no discrimination against any communities.
"There are millions and millions of websites from around the world and some sites with the word gay have got through and some haven't which shows it's nothing to do with the gay community," he said.
A corporate decision would be made today to see how quickly things could be turned around and McDonald's was happy to look at things on a case-by-case basis, Mr Hawthorn said.
"There will be some sites that are actually available that shouldn't be and some that should be that aren't and we will be relying on our customers to tell us which ones we need to look at."
However, all links and advertisements must also be acceptable, he said.
NZPA