Practice English with NewsPractice with News
Technology302 words2 min read

Docomo's Parental Control App Down for Two Weeks

City buildings under a clear blue sky
Photo by Dust Studio on Unsplash
0:00 / 0:00

Listen to the story

NTT Docomo, one of Japan's largest telecommunications companies, has confirmed that its parental control app, "Anshin Filter", has been inoperable for two weeks.

The app is designed to help parents restrict their children's access to inappropriate websites and content on smartphones.

According to a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Docomo has not disclosed the cause of the malfunction.

Nor has the company provided a specific timeline for when the service will be fully restored.

The prolonged outage has left many families unable to rely on the app to supervise their children's online activity.

Anshin Filter is a widely used service among Docomo subscribers who want to limit their children's exposure to harmful or unsuitable online material.

The company has issued an apology to affected customers but has offered little additional information about the technical nature of the issue.

It remains unclear how many users have been impacted or whether the problem is linked to a system update, software error, or external cause.

Docomo has stated that it is continuing to investigate the matter and working toward a resolution, though no estimated completion date has been given.

The uncertainty surrounding the repair timeline has drawn criticism from some users, who argue that families depend on such services for their children's safety online.

Parental control apps like Anshin Filter have become increasingly important in Japan as smartphone use among children continues to rise.

Without access to the app, parents may need to find alternative methods to monitor or restrict their children's device usage in the meantime.

Docomo has not indicated whether users will receive any compensation for the extended disruption.

The company is expected to issue further updates as more information becomes available.

For now, affected users are being advised to monitor Docomo's official communications channels for news regarding the service's restoration.

Vocabulary7 words

parental control
tools that let parents manage what children do on devices
inoperable
not able to work or function
malfunction
a failure to work correctly
restored
brought back to normal working order
outage
a period when a service is unavailable
customers
people who use a company's product or service
disruption
an interruption that stops normal activity

๐Ÿ“š Ready to use these words in a real conversation?

Practice live with a real tutor on Preply.

Preply โ€” learn a language with a live tutor

Quiz

1. What is the main function of the Anshin Filter app?
2. What has Docomo NOT done according to the report?
3. True or False: The exact cause of the malfunction has been disclosed by Docomo.

โœ… Nice work on the quiz!

Keep the momentum going โ€” book a live English lesson with a Preply tutor.

Preply โ€” learn a language with a live tutor

Discussion questions

  1. Why might parental control apps be important for families today?
  2. What problems could arise for parents when such an app stops working?
  3. Should companies be required to give clear timelines when fixing service outages? Why or why not?
  4. How might this incident affect trust in Docomo's other services?

๐ŸŽ“ Enjoyed this story?

Turn today's reading into real speaking practice with a live Preply tutor.

Preply โ€” learn a language with a live tutor

More Technology stories