Website of gender-critical campaign group Sex Matters is blocked on Great Western Railway trains Wi-fi Network ‘for being linked to terrorism and hate’

• GWR said the page was blocked due to repeated use of the word ‘sex’

The website of a gender critical group was blocked on a train’s onboard WiFi network, after it was flagged for being linked to ‘terrorism and hate’.

Sex Matters, a self-described ‘human-rights organisation that campaigns for clarity on sex in law and policy’, campaigns for ‘easy and safe’ conversations about what it calls ‘ordinary truth’ biology.

But the group’s website was blocked on a Great Western Railway train ‘because it’s associated with the terrorism and hate category’, a page blocker said.

GWR said that the page was blocked because AI scanners had deemed it ‘adult’ content, likely due to the repetition of the word ‘sex’. 

It was not clear why the page was flagged for ‘terrorism and hate’.

A GWR spokesperson told The Telegraph they have ‘asked [their] supplier to review the tagging of the site to ensure it has been correctly categorised’.

A GWR train passes through Slough in August 2022. GWR did not confirm whether their AI-driven system was designed to filter out gender-critical content

GWR has not confirmed whether the technology they use is set up to filter out gender-critical content.

Sex Matters is a group ‘informing public debate by undertaking research and analysis.

According to their website, their vision is for an ‘easy and safe’ way to speak about biological differences [between men and women] while respecting ‘belief in gender ideology’.

They argue ‘it has become dangerous to speak the truth’ about biological sex and laws thereof are ‘unclear and misinterpreted’. 

They also claim that ‘replacing’ sex with ‘gender identity’ in various institutions ‘undermines everyone’s human rights’. 

But not all agree with the group’s aims. The People’s History Museum faced backlash and apologised after allowing the group to hold a board meeting on its premises in July.

Internet users called the group ‘hateful’ and trans-exclusive, prompting the museum to say sorry. 

Sex Matters, a self-described ‘human-rights organisation that campaigns for clarity on sex in law and policy’, campaigns for ‘easy and safe’ conversations about what it calls ‘ordinary truth’ biology

File image shows a woman typing on a laptop on a train. GWR uses AI technology to limit the kinds of material passengers can access while on board

In 2019, a GWR passenger complained after train WiFi stopped her from browsing an online sex toy store.

Diana James was en route to London when she decided to visit Sh! Women’s Erotic Emporium.

When she was blocked from accessing the page, she criticised GWR on Twitter, writing ‘shame on @GWRhelp[,] not those women accessing it.’

A GWR admin reviewed the algorithm’s assessment and said the site would not be appropriate for public WiFi and would remain blocked. 

MailOnline approached GWR for comment. 

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