Defeat Lust & Pornography man looking at his phone
Defeat Lust & Pornography 2 minute read

How a Custom Block List Can Boost Your Porn Recovery

Last Updated: May 17, 2021

A porn blocker can play an extremely important role in your journey to overcome porn, especially if you use it with accountability. Few people overcome porn using only a porn blocker.

Screen Accountability allows you to block known porn sites, but in our initial release, you couldn’t personalize the list of websites it blocks. Many of our members expressed that they would happily switch to Screen Accountability when they could add websites of their choosing to a Custom Block List.

We are excited to announce that day is here! Custom Block Lists are now available with Screen Accountability. 

How a Custom Block List Fits into Your Recovery Efforts

Porn blockers have their limitations, but they are valuable for recovery, especially in the early stages. A porn blocker can help someone achieve a level of sobriety by preventing them from accidentally stumbling upon a porn site. Our Filtering service, powered by CleanBrowsing, protects against this and automatically blocks all known porn sites.

But those struggling with porn often find that certain non-porn sites tempt them and act as a gateway to porn use. These porn triggers often vary from person to person. Maybe it’s YouTube. Maybe a fan fiction site. Maybe a certain store. What triggers you might not have the same effect on your friend, and vice versa. This is where a Custom Block List can help.

A Custom Block List allows you to block those non-porn sites that act as your gateway to porn. Knowing what sites trigger you helps you grow in self-awareness, and this self-awareness will be an important key to your recovery. Here are a few ways you can utilize this feature:

  • Proactively identify some of the sites that are your porn triggers. Are there specific sites that seem to consistently trip you up? Add them to your Custom Block List.
  • Review your screen activity with your ally. Were there any incidents? What type of activity led up to the incident? Any common themes from various incidents? Consider adding those to your Custom Block List.

How Blocking Works on Screen Accountability

Our Custom Block List provides you an easy way to set standards for yourself that carry over to all your devices. You don’t have to go through the time consuming and tedious process of managing a blacklist for each device.

Here are the high level things you need to know:

  • Your existing Custom Block Lists will transfer to Screen Accountability. If you’re still using Internet Accountability, your old Blocked Sites List will be automatically imported to Screen Accountability when you switch. If you’ve already switched to Screen Accountability, your old Blocked Sites List from Internet Accountability will be automatically transferred at your next software update.
  • It blocks domains, but not specific URLs. This means you can add “trigger-site.com” or “images.trigger-site.com,” but you can’t currently add the specific URL, “www.trigger-site.com/inappropriate-image.” NOTE: Adding “images.trigger-site.com” will not block “trigger-site.com,” but adding “trigger-site.com” will block “images.trigger-site.com.”

For more information about how blocking works with Screen Accountability, check out our Custom Block List support article.

Get Started with Screen Accountability

Were you waiting to start using Screen Accountability until the Custom Block List was available? No need to wait any longer.

Existing members can switch to Screen Accountability in My Account. Non-members who want to use Screen Accountability can simply sign up for Covenant Eyes.

Comments on: How a Custom Block List Can Boost Your Porn Recovery
  1. Tim

    I am really happy with the new system. I will explain.

    The old Covenant Eyes (internet accountability) regular seemed to trigger false positives. Although some of what it reported was intentional, unrighteous behavior on my part, other parts were unintentional and innocent. As the person needing accountability, I always felt especially hurt by any of those false alarms. Sometimes I was innocent and proud of my conduct in real life but then later condemned by the auto-generated report e-mailed to those who were important to me. It broke down accountability, because I knew I was doubted, but I didn’t want to argue with anyone. How could I argue against Covenant Eyes? My heart was crushed. It even felt like I was being gaslighted because eventually, you don’t even know what to believe. Is it possible that in some careless moment, I did intentionally seek provocative content, and it meant so little to me that I just forgot about it? Yes, that is possible. Maybe that’s what happened, I would tell myself. Please forgive me, and may God have mercy on my soul.

    The new Covenant Eyes (screenshot accountability) seems much less susceptible to raising false alarms. I really like that. When the custom block list was added this summer, restoring its custom filtering capabilities, it became as good as it’s ever been. I look forward to opening my daily Covenant Eyes reports now. They reinforce my purity and my relationships instead of clouding them in doubt. Thank you all for these improvements.

    A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight (Proverbs 11:1). Our heavenly father sees all that you have done. For the times I was hurt, I forgive it all. Being in that situation was my fault anyway and not yours.

    To anyone else thinking about switching to screenshot accountability, I think you will be really pleased. The software now is as good as its ever been. Covenant Eyes has become a world-class product. It is fair and righteous. You need this.

    • Moriah Dufrin

      Tim,

      SO glad to hear that you are loving our new Screen Accountability (and the custom block list)! There is much less “questioning” and doubt when it comes to my own reports, and I love that. It’s a whole new level of accountability, and we as believers need that!

      Keep up the good fight.
      Moriah

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related in Defeat Lust & Pornography

Editor's Picks

A normal couple in bed watching porn.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

Is Watching Porn Normal?

Statistics show that watching porn is extremely common—but does that make it…

9 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

Man looking in the mirror, thinking about his identity.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

7 Identities That Make Pornography Fade Into Insignificance

Right now our culture seems to be obsessed with identifying ourselves by…

8 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

Scientist looking at a brain scan for dopamine.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

Porn and Dopamine: Superstar or Supervillain?

Dopamine has received a lot of popular press these days, especially when…

6 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

A young man studying lust in the Bible at the library.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

What is lust in the Bible?

You probably don’t hear the word “lust” very often outside of church…

11 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

Young man graduating from college.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

My Integrity Is Not for Sale: Living With Integrity in an Immoral World

There are some statements that stick better in my mind than others.…

5 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

silhouette of a man standing on a hill

Defeat Lust & Pornography

John’s Story: From Darkness to Light

How can a young person live a life of integrity using today’s…

5 minute read

Read Post

Related in Defeat Lust & Pornography

A normal couple in bed watching porn.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

Is Watching Porn Normal?

Statistics show that watching porn is extremely common—but does that make it…

Statistics show that watching porn is extremely common—but does that make it normal? Two-thirds of men regularly consume pornography along with a third of women. So it is true that plenty of normal people watch…

9 minute read

1 comment

Man looking in the mirror, thinking about his identity.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

7 Identities That Make Pornography Fade Into Insignificance

Right now our culture seems to be obsessed with identifying ourselves by…

Right now our culture seems to be obsessed with identifying ourselves by our genitalia, sexuality, political views, and skin color. Of course, these can be important pieces to a person’s identity, but they are only…

8 minute read

0 comments

Scientist looking at a brain scan for dopamine.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

Porn and Dopamine: Superstar or Supervillain?

Dopamine has received a lot of popular press these days, especially when…

Dopamine has received a lot of popular press these days, especially when it comes to things like watching porn. Depending on who you ask, you might think dopamine is a superstar or a supervillain. Once…

6 minute read

2 comments

A young man studying lust in the Bible at the library.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

What is lust in the Bible?

You probably don’t hear the word “lust” very often outside of church…

You probably don’t hear the word “lust” very often outside of church these days. If, like me, you grew up in the heyday of evangelical Purity Culture, you probably heard it a lot! But even…

11 minute read

0 comments

Young man graduating from college.

Defeat Lust & Pornography

My Integrity Is Not for Sale: Living With Integrity in an Immoral World

There are some statements that stick better in my mind than others.…

There are some statements that stick better in my mind than others. One statement that caught my attention years ago from a pastoral mentor: “My integrity is not for sale.” When I first heard this…

5 minute read

0 comments

silhouette of a man standing on a hill

Defeat Lust & Pornography

John’s Story: From Darkness to Light

How can a young person live a life of integrity using today’s…

How can a young person live a life of integrity using today’s technology? This is a question I have asked myself thousands of times. Growing up, it was always my heart’s desire to live a…

5 minute read

0 comments