McDonald's Wi-Fi Blocks Gay Sites

McDonald's is accused of blocking access to certain gay websites from its free Wi-Fi service in New Zealand restaurants.

According to the New Zealand Press Association, "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."

GayNZ.com reported that there appeared to be no consistency in the censorship, as access to the NZ AIDS Foundation was not blocked but access to Family Planning, Rainbow Youth, and Advocate.com, among other sites, was blocked.

McDonald's defended the blocks by saying it was a "family restaurant chain," NZPA reported.

"Because of this, access to a number of websites is blocked, including access to GayNZ.com, gambling, tobacco, and adult mature content websites," said a McDonald's spokeswoman.

Last year the company's chief of operations said a commercial with a gay teenager that ran in France would not be broadcast in the United States because of different "cultural norms."