For the first time new BT customers will automatically have default filters that block online pornography.
New subscribers to its broadband services will now have to decide whether to keep or remove Parental Controls filters which block pornographic materials as well as websites that contain self-harm and violence.
It follows similar default filters introduced by other Internet Service Providers (ISP), including Sky and TalkTalk.
Building blocks
BT’s filters will also extend to tablets and games consoles.
Existing subscribers will also be asked in the New Year if they wish to set up filters on their broadband, from strict to moderate or light.
Protecting children
BT’s action follows the UK government’s call for all sites which feature adult content, including pornography, to be filtered.
“BT takes the issue of online child protection extremely seriously and we are very pleased to be able to launch the ‘whole-home’ filter to help parents keep their families safe online,’ explains Pete Oliver, MD of BT’s Consumer and Digital division.
‘It adds to the many tools we already make available for free to our customers. We’ve been focused on the issue of online safety since we developed the world’s first Cleanfeed filter to block child abuse images and made the technology available free to other ISPs across the world, a decade ago.'
Concerned parents
Six in ten parents have become increasingly concerned about the access of sex websites to their children.
According to Safer Media, a charity working to protect children from media harm, one third of children have been exposed to explicit pornography on the Internet by the age of ten.
Safer Media’s Miranda Suit said:
“We are delighted that BT have stepped up to the plate and introduced this within the timetable set by the Prime Minister. This will offer simpler and more effective protection to many more internet users.
‘However the four major ISPs involved only cover 95% of households, leaving 5% (about 2 million children) without filters, unless the smaller ISPs follow suit. We are still very keen to see ISP-level filters extended to 100% of the internet and also ensure that really effective age verification is used.”
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