David Cameron has announced new plans to automatically block access to online pornography after warning that explicit images available on internet websites are “corroding childhood.”
Opt-in
In a major speech Mr Cameron said that internet users who wish to access pornography will be required to “opt-in” under the new regime, unless they choose to have the filters removed.
Harmful online content will be blocked automatically for all new customers, whereas existing users will be contacted by their internet providers and presented “with an unavoidable decision about whether or not to install family friendly content filters”.
Public Wi-Fi
The UK’s biggest internet service providers have all agreed to offer the filters, which would apply to both home and public Wi-Fi networks “wherever children are likely to be present,” including railway stations and cafés.
Real life
“My argument is that the internet is not a side-line to ‘real life’ or an escape from ‘real life’; it is real life. It has an impact: on the children who view things that harm them, on the vile images of abuse that pollute minds and cause crime, on the very values that underpin our society,” Mr Cameron said.
Under the new measures, search engines such as Google will also be required to draw up a black list of “abhorrent” search terms which would offer no search results when used.
“Put simply – there needs to be a list of terms – a black list – which offer up no direct search returns,” the Prime Minister added.
Moral duty
Mr Cameron said he also intends to make it illegal to possess material depicting rape in England and Wales, as is currently the case in Scotland.
Delighted
Holly Dustin, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said the group was “delighted” with the move.
“The coalition government has pledged to prevent abuse of women and girls, so tackling a culture that glorifies abuse is critical for achieving this,” she said.
“The next step is working with experts to ensure careful drafting of the law and proper resourcing to ensure the law is enforced fully.”
“Laughed at”
But head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP), Jim Gamble, said Mr Cameron’s proposals to black list search terms would be “laughed at” by paedophiles.
“There are 50,000 predators...downloading abusive images on peer-to-peer, not from Google,” he said. “Yet from CEOP intelligence only 192 were arrested last year. That’s simply not good enough.
“We’ve got to attack the root cause, invest with new money, real investment in child protection teams, victim support and policing on the ground. Let’s create a real deterrent. Not a pop-up that paedophiles will laugh at.”
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