It seems Apple thinks the word “Asian” is related to porn so they’re blocking it in their iOS. According to Techworm, Apple’s built-in content blocker for Safari is blocking words like “Asian” and “Teen” because it thinks it’s porn. The built-in content blocker actively blocks adult sites to make sure kids using the browser are not able to access them.

The content blocker, however, does have to be activated for it to work. So, a Twitter user, Charlie Stigler, who has an iPhone8 turned it on and found that he couldn’t get any search results for “Asian,” “Asian hairstyles”, or “Asian food.”

“Weird bad thing: iOS built-in adult content filter blocks all searches with the keyword “Asian,” assuming it’s porn-related,” Stigler wrote on Twitter. “Which means a 12 y/o Chinese-American girl might Google “Asian hairstyles” and find out that her culture is blocked as “adult content.

“Searchers like “teen mental health resources” are also blocked, because “teen” is on the blacklist. Which is so dumb for a feature that’s probably being used BY TEENS!”

Searches like "teen mental health resources" are also blocked, because "teen" is on the blacklist. Which is so dumb for a feature that's probably being used BY TEENS! — Charlie Stigler (@charliestigler) February 18, 2020

Interestingly enough, Stigler noted that “Asians” is not blocked. Further testing by Stigler found that “Asian + (word)” is blocked in almost every iteration like “Asian history” and “Asian sports.” The one exception that he found was that “Asian NFL” is allowed.

To try out this feature, go to Screen Time –> Content & Privacy Restrictions -> Content Restrictions -> Web Content and turn on “Limit Adult Websites.”

These tech nerds really love “Asian” stuff. The feature is probably there so tech nerds can get some programming done instead of spending their whole day looking up “Asian (fill in the word).” That’s how to keep productivity high in Silicon Valley.