NEW YORK CITY — People watching pornography, masturbating and otherwise abusing LinkNYC internet kiosks is an "unintended consequence" of the effort to provide free high-speed Internet access to all, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday.
"This was a good idea that ended up having a real unintended consequence and we have to be honest about that," de Blasio said Friday on the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC, a day after LinkNYC announced plans Thursday to disable web browsing at its 400 kiosks citywide following rampant reports of abuse and lewd behavior.
"We thought we were really adding a lot of capacity, particularly in a lot of areas where people don't have enough access to the internet. And we found that there was a pattern of abuse. And so the right thing to do was to cut off the ability to browse and get it back to some of the core functions," the mayor added.
The kiosks will still provide free, high speed Wi-Fi, the ability to make phone calls and access to city information including maps and calls to 311 and 911.
CityBridge, which operates LinkNYC, said web browsing on the tablets will be turned off until they come up with a solution, such as placing time limits on browsing, a solution first suggested by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
A solution is needed quickly because the city expects over 4,500 of the LinkNYC devices to be installed by 2019. There could be 7,500 kiosks will by July 2023, according to the city's contract.
De Blasio said he believes the devices still have "a lot of value" but that the "people who put together the vision" missed "the reality" that people might hog the devices.
The Bloomberg Administration launched the plan to revitalize outdated phone booths four years ago.
"I think in the end, as we work to perfect it, it'll end up being a real value to the city but of course we're disappointed that this came up and we have to make this adjustment," said de Blasio.
"It's not shocking sometimes a good idea requires some tweaking and adjustment, but in the end I believe we'll get it right."
