BY SUPPORTING THESE CHANNELS, ROKU’S BRAND IS LINKED IN TACIT AGREEMENT WITH THE CONTENT PORNOGRAPHY WEBSITES CREATE AND THE MESSAGES THEY SEND. Roku would act to protect its brand from being used to support such hate-filled and degrading messages regarding race-we are merely asking that Roku would do the same for women, who are the primary objects of hate-filled and degrading actions in pornography, as discussed in the research below. Surely Roku would not allow hundreds of white supremacist private channels to use and advertise Roku’s systems. No other media streamer offers the amount of explicit video streaming channels as are available on Roku. Much of the pornography available through the system depicts teen, incest, slavery, and incredibly violent themes. One channel is clearly marked as pornography, while another that they call “discreet” has a misleading name and cover graphic so as to “hide” these channels in one’s homepage. It is even more alarming that many of these pornographers are creating two porn channels on the Roku system. They widely advertise for their channels and applaud Roku in forum after forum for being the one streaming device to permit this material. Pornographers are well aware of the backdoor Roku has left open to them. In contrast, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV have taken measures to prohibit hardcore pornographic content from being accessed through their services. Hundreds of these channels can be accessed via direct download from the Roku website. Roku does not expressly allow pornographic channels in their public channel store, however, because they allow developers to set up “private” or “hidden” channels, Roku has become a major mainstream destination for streaming sexually exploitive content. Roku does not expressly allow pornographic channels in their public channel store, however, because they allow developers to set up “private” or “hidden” channels, Roku has become a major mainstream destination for streaming sexually exploitive Roku has at least 1,800 such private channels. Roku also allows developers to set up “private” or “hidden” channels which can only be downloaded with a code or direct link to the Roku website.
Roku’s public directory has more than 3,500 channels including many free providers like YouTube, PBS Kids, TED, Pandora, as well as subscription-based channels like Netflix, Amazon Video, and Hulu.
Roku also offers “channels” similar to standard TV channels (although competitors like Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire TV call them “apps”). With an estimated 10 million monthly users, Roku is a company that produces streaming devices that connect to the Internet allowing you to display content on your TV, including content from popular web-based video hosting services like YouTube and Netflix. Roku is making money off of family-friendly companies like Disney, PBS, Hallmark, and more! But these companies are unaware of the fact that Roku allows pornographers to use its systems. In 2018, according to news reports, “for the first time in its history, Roku made more revenue from advertising and licensing than device sales.”