Pornography and anything related to the LGBT+ community is a no-go. Thanks to a particularly subjective filtering system, Radiant Mobile offers its subscribers a web environment “centered on Jesus” for $30 per month. An internet “without pornography, without LGBT, without trans,” promises Paul Fisher, the founder of this operator claiming to be “Christian.” An unconventional offer in the mobile telephony sector, addressed “to families who want a mobile experience that reflects their values.”
On its site, Radiant Mobile openly states that it considers “the Bible as the supreme authority on beliefs and behavior.” “You are not obligated to share our faith to be welcome,” it also says. “But you should know where we stand, as that is why we operate the way we do.”
The functioning is based on segmenting the web into 120 categories and subcategories. Access to some is completely blocked for all users, like a shield held directly by the operator between them and all content considered “harmful.” Before subscribing, it is necessary to agree that all sites with “pornographic content,” related to Satanism, or explaining “how to prepare, manufacture, build, and use explosives” will be entirely inaccessible via mobile data through a firewall.
Arbitrary Filtering
Other categories are subject to blocking that only concerns certain age groups, or are protected by a more flexible firewall that can be lifted by the user. And some topics are not blocked at all – such as the category “violence” for adults, or “weapons,” which adolescents and adults can access without constraints.
Although restricting access to certain dangerous content for a specific age group may be consensual, the filtering differs greatly from a typical parental control. Implemented through the expertise of the Israeli company Allot, a partner of Radiant Mobile, it is applied directly at the network level rather than through an application installed on the phone. The function cannot be disabled under any circumstances, unless changing operators.
The criteria for placing a site or page into one of the 120 categories remain opaque and entirely subjective. An Allot company sales director admitted that the question of gender is not assigned to a specific category, but that “LGBT content” tends to fall under the “sexuality” category.
Thus, the page of the American university Yale dedicated to LGBT+ individuals is blocked by default for Radiant Mobile subscribers. If posts on this topic were to consistently appear on Yale’s homepage, Paul Fisher warns that the entire site would be blocked.
AI-Generated Content
Radiant Mobile not only restricts access to existing online content but also boasts creating content “centered on Jesus” for educational purposes. Original videos inspired by the story of John the Baptist or the Gospel of Matthew, as well as programs for children where Disney characters narrate the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, or Jonah and the whale. These programs are all entirely generated by artificial intelligence.
“We must find a way to shut the door of the digital space,” Paul Fisher admits. On the Radiant Mobile site, the company’s mission is to “give Internet back to the people of God.” Already, the former manager of models and influencers aims to expand his devoted mobile network to other countries, including Korea and Mexico.
