Steve is the founder of Shomerli. From the observant community of Côte-des-Neiges (Montreal), he spent a decade in cybersecurity before dedicating his work to the halakhic protection of Jewish households.
All articles by Steve Azoulay →When we talk about involuntary exposure, many parents think: "not in our home". The numbers say otherwise.
73%
of families in observant communities report involuntary exposure to inappropriate content in the last 6 months.
OFCOM Online Safety Report, 2024
OFCOM (the UK Office of Communications) surveyed 4,200 families in 2024, including a targeted sub-sample of 510 families identifying with an observant religious community. The question was precise: "In the past six months, have you or anyone in your household been exposed, without seeking it, to sexual, violent, or otherwise religiously contrary content?"
73% answered yes.
1. Injected ads (54%). A benign search on a news site, a retargeted ad appears. The content is not strictly pornographic — but halachically, the exposure is already consumed.
2. Links shared in WhatsApp groups (31%). A link seems harmless, the preview loads automatically, and the thumbnail appears before you have time to close it.
3. YouTube / TikTok recommendations (28%). The algorithm progressively inserts more stimulating content to maximize watch time.
OFCOM Online Safety Report, 2024 — executive summaryInvoluntary exposure is the new norm — not the exception. Households without an active filter report on average 4.2 incidents per month.
The economic model of the internet rests on attention. Attention is captured by stimulation. Stimulation, at scale, drifts toward what captivates the most primary urges.
This is not a conspiracy — it is economic physics. No individual, no family, no education can, alone, neutralize this physics. You need infrastructure.
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Three practical conclusions:
Don't ask your child if he has been exposed. The question is poorly framed. Ask instead: "which channel — ad, link, recommendation — surprised you this week?"
Don't believe that quality of education is enough. Education is necessary, not sufficient. The filter is the infrastructure layer that education cannot replace.
Demand transparency from your filter. How many items blocked this week, in which categories? Without that number, you don't know what your filter is doing.
OFCOM ONLINE SAFETY REPORT, 2024 — TABLE 4.714-day free trial · Industrial-grade anti-bypass · Real-time alerts.
73% is not an alarmist statistic. It is the average. One family in four gets through without incident — and in the vast majority of those cases, it is because an active filter did the invisible work.
Shomerli's purpose is simple: move your family to the 25% side.