LOS ANGELES — "VICTORY" proclaimed the headline, in triumphant capital letters, of a now-refuted claim by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) that they had slain one of their identified beasts.
In a press release subtitled "United Airlines Removed from Dirty Dozen List, Agrees to Train Crews to Stop In-Flight Porn Use," the anti-pornography group claims to have pressured United Airlines into changing their sexual harassment training policy and adopting a zero-tolerance stance on watching pornography — in addition to "anything over an R-rating" — in-flight.
"With hundreds of messages flooding into United Airlines' Customer Service line this past year while the corporation — which employs over 85,000 people worldwide and flies over 150 million customers a year — was listed on the '2019 Dirty Dozen List,' United has now stepped up to combat in-flight sexual harassment and pornography use with improved training for its flight attendants," trumpeted the NCOSE.
"The new training emphasizes United Airlines’ zero-tolerance policy for hardcore pornography (and anything over an R-rating) on personal devices and helps flight crews with how to approach passengers who view such material in-flight."
NCOSE takes credit for this policy change; however, XBIZ confirmed today this claim is false.
The move by United Airlines to strengthen their training of flight attendants to recognize and respond to sexual harassment incidents predates, by a year, their inclusion on NCOSE's "Dirty Dozen" list.
"The safety of our customers and colleagues is our top priority," announced United Airlines in their original statement, provided to XBIZ, outlining the new employee training policies.
"Sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior, intimidation or predation have absolutely no place anywhere in our society — including, and especially, in our industry and on our aircraft. In 2018, we strengthened our training for flight attendants to recognize, address and respond to instances of sexual harassment of any kind on board our aircraft and will continue to adapt and enhance this training moving forward. We recognize the need to continue the discussion among all of our work groups to further ensure that our policies reflect our values and safeguard those traveling with us."
Contrary to another claim by NCOSE, the revised sexual harassment policy is not related to adult content.
"It is not specific to the viewing of pornography," United Airlines Corporate Communications officer Kimberly Gibbs told XBIZ today.
When asked directly whether pressure from NCOSE prompted United Airlines' policy change, Gibbs responded, "In short, no. We strengthened our training in 2018 to address sexual harassment, not to address what is stated in the [NCOSE] press release."
This did not stop NCOSE's false claim from making its way into mainstream news stories. Both Fox Business and Yahoo Finance ran stories that accepted NCOSE's claim at face value.
XBIZ has examined how a rebranding by NCOSE — until 2014, they were known as "Morality in Media" — has dramatically altered the group's coverage by the mainstream press. The group is regularly cited, uncritically, as an anti-sexual exploitation organization instead of a stridently conservative, religiously motivated anti-pornography group.
XBIZ reached out to NCOSE for comment on United Airlines' refutation of their claim, but had not received a response by post time.
For more XBIZ coverage of the War On Porn, click here.