A Christian US-based mobile network positioning itself as “values-driven” has launched with built-in restrictions on LGBTQ+ related and pornographic content.

Radiant Mobile, which went live on May 5, operates as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), leasing cell towers and bandwidth from larger carriers while imposing its own layer of content controls. It is similar to Donald Trump’s Trump Mobile and CREDOMobile.

In this case, Radiant will be buying bandwidth from T-Mobile. When asked if such content restrictions violate their policies, a representative for T-Mobile said that the network does not have a direct relationship with Radiant, but rather interacts with them through MVNO manager CompaxDigital.

Marketed toward Christian users, Radiant filters internet traffic at the network level, meaning users cannot bypass or disable restrictions even on personal devices.

While the company frames its approach as a response to concerns about online pornography, its filtering system also targets queer content. LGBTQ+ topics are grouped alongside categories such as violence and “Satanism”. 

Unlike app-based parental controls, Radiant’s system prevents flagged material from loading entirely. This includes not just entire websites, but potentially specific sections of otherwise accessible platforms.

The company has partnered with cybersecurity firm Allot to categorise websites into more than 100 groups, enabling granular filtering. It has also built ties with churches and Christian influencers, with a portion of subscription fees expected to flow back to religious organisations, blurring the line between telecom service and ideological platform.

The founder has been explicit about the company’s intent: “We are going to create, and we think we have every right to do so, an environment that is Jesus-centric, that is void of pornography, void of LGBT, void of trans,” Radiant Mobile Paul Fisher told MIT Technology Review.

Fischer previously hosted a TV show in which he tried to get people in rehab centres and homeless shelters into modelling.

With plans to expand the Christian mobile network into countries including Mexico and South Korea, Radiant Mobile’s model raises broader questions about autonomy and whose values get encoded into the infrastructure of the internet itself.