Clean Reader – why censoring adult books doesn’t really protect children

I was only vaguely aware of Clean Reader until I heard Joanne Harris talking about it on Radio 4. Whilst I generally like the idea of making my books accessible to people who wouldn’t normally read them, I object to this app – partly on the grounds that I don’t want someone changing the words of my books (no ‘you can opt out’ isn’t consent), but also on the grounds that it’s such a misguidedidea.

I’m not a stranger to the idea of protecting kids from unwanted influences. I grew up in middle...