The service, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) running on T-Mobile's 5G infrastructure, costs $29.99 (£22) per month for unlimited talk, text, and data.

But the pornography block isn't the only filter baked into the plan. A separate 'sexuality' category that targets LGBTQ and gender-related content is switched on by default across every device on an account. Parents can also block platforms like TikTok and YouTube through built-in controls.

Founder Paul Fisher toldMIT Technology Reviewthat the network would be 'void of pornography, void of LGBT, void of trans.' Fisher didn't come from telecoms. He spent more than three decades as a talent agent in the fashion industry, representing models including Naomi Campbell.

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The filtering technology comes from Israeli cybersecurity firm Allot, which sorts website domains into more than 100 categories. Allot sales director Anthony Re confirmed toMIT Technology Reviewthat the company doesn't operate a dedicated gender category. That means Fisher himself is making the editorial calls on which domains fall under 'sexuality'.

The results are already visible. Yale University's main website remains accessible because it sits in Allot's education category. But lgbtq.yale.edu, a subdomain for the university's LGBTQ resources, has been placed in the sexuality category and blocked. Fisher warned that if LGBTQ content appeared prominently on Yale's main pages, the entire domain could follow.

David Choffnes, a computer science professor and executive director of Northeastern University's Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute, said the permanent pornography filter sets Radiant apart.

Network-level blocking is a tool long used by authoritarian governments for censorship, and US telecoms already apply it to malware domains. What's new, Choffnes toldMIT Technology Review, is a US cell plan that locks adults into content restrictions they can't remove.

Radiant Mobile has received $17.5 million (£13 million) in investment from Compax Ventures, the investment arm of CompaxDigital, which manages the technical relationship between Radiant and T-Mobile. Nvidia vice president Roger Bringmann is the company's lead investor and silent partner.

If the model gains traction, it could inspire similar filtered networks built around other religious or political demographics. Fisher has already named South Korea and Mexico as expansion targets, citing their large Christian populations.

Source: International Business Times UK