Parents were sent into a state of shock over the Thanksgiving weekend after finding a hardcore porn video as one of the suggestions in the "Dad Gifts" section of Amazon.
According to The Sun, instead of the traditional necktie or cologne, Amazon shoppers looking for that perfect dad gift were offered the hardcore porn video "Dad is f***ing my girlfriend" as one of the search results in the "Dad Gifts" browser. Take a look:
"Parents fear children could see the 18-rated £16.95 DVD and other sex films on the website as they appear in search results," reports The Sun. "The DVD - which was sold by a third-party seller called Meerkat Wholesalers - popped up on screen when you typed 'dad gifts' into the search bar."
46-year-old James Lock claims to have seen the porn video while searching for a potential gift for his dead. He now fears his children will come across a similar video while searching on their own.
"In amongst the usual stuff like BBQ utensils, car manuals, gardening gift sets and funny T-shirts which say 'Grumpy old git', or 'No 1 dad' novelty mugs was this sex film," Lock told The Sun. "I only typed in 'Dad Gifts' into the search menu. I wasn't expecting something so explicit to turn up."
"My two kids go on Amazon a lot to look for toys and ideas for presents to write on their letter to Father Christmas," he continued. "I hate to think what would have happened if they'd found this DVD themselves. Amazon should be far more responsible with its listings. Anything pornographic needs to be removed immediately."
Writing on Facebook, Gina Morris said: "Completely gobsmacked that one of the world's biggest retailers sells porn so blatantly. Horrified it is so easy to find. How many children will be searching for gifts before Christmas and accidentally come across this DVD? The bosses of Amazon should be ashamed of themselves."
An Amazon spokesman said of the video: "All sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account. The product in question is no longer available."
Amazon later removed the title from the site after being contacted about the DVD; however, other porn films remain listed online. In fact, when The Sun searched "porn film" on Amazon, "explicit DVDs come up even when Amazon states it has excluded 'adult items' from the results." The Amazon UK claims it bans pornography from being sold on the site despite "thousands of pornography items" being available for purchase. While porn can be purchased legally anywhere online, sellers like Amazon and other mail order services can be prosecuted for selling porn items due to a High Court ruling in 2005. From The Guardian.
Hardcore pornography cannot be sold by mail order nor on the internet, the high court ruled yesterday.R18 films showing real sex scenes will have to be sold only in licensed sex shops on a "face to face" basis, to minimise the chance of children getting hold of them; by law, shop staff must check that customers are aged 18 or over.Two porn companies, one in Barking, Essex, and one in Birmingham, that had been fined for selling their products on websites appealed to the high court, arguing that British firms would lose out to foreign ones able to supply videos and DVDs unhindered by British law.
Lord Justice Kay said the ruling was to ensure that the customer comes face-to-face with the supplier. "We have no doubt that one of the main reasons for the restriction is to ensure that the customer comes face to face with the supplier so that there is an opportunity for the supplier to assess the age of the customer," said Lord Kay. "It is a disincentive to a visibly under-age customer to seek out the forbidden material".
He added: "It is no answer to say that the restrictions can be circumvented and so are not justified. Whilst they do not make it impossible for a determined minor to come into possession of an R18 video, they make it more difficult."
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