The government will soon pressure Internet service providers to block access to online pornography, in a bid to prevent children being exposed to wanton sauce.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, communications minister Ed Vaizey said he will hold talks "in the near future" with BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media to discuss changing the way pornography is accessed in the home.
Ministers are aiming for a system whereby ISP customers would have to opt in to gain access to smutty sites. In the event that ISPs fail to devise a system voluntarily, legislation could be on the cards.
Quoth the honourable Vaizey thus: "This is a very serious matter. I think it is very important that it's the ISPs that come up with solutions to protect children. I'm hoping they will get their acts together so that we don't have to legislate, but we are keeping an eye on the situation and we will have a new communications bill in the next couple of years."
ISPs have previously deemed such plans too expensive and difficult to implement, but TalkTalk now seems to be in favour. The company's executive director of strategy and regulation, Andrew Heaney, told The Sunday Times that, if ISPs don't voluntarily restrict porn access, "then maybe they should be leant on".
Virgin Media said that it blocks access to porn on mobiles but not in the home, where children can be monitored by parents. BT said its Cleanfeed system already prevents access to illegal sites, while a spokesperson told the BBC, "There are many legal, consumer rights and technical issues that would need to be considered before any new Web-blocking policy was developed."
"ISPs currently block child abuse content which is illegal and widely regarded as abhorrent," Nicholas Lansman, secretary general of the ISP Association, told the Beeb. "Blocking lawful pornography content is less clear cut, will lead to the blocking of access to legitimate content and is only effective in preventing inadvertent access."
In November, Conservative MP Claire Perry claimed that 60 per cent of 9- to 19-year-olds had accessed Internet porn online, while only 15 per cent of computer-savvy parents knew how to set up filters on a PC -- not that filters are particularly difficult to get around.
What do you think? Can parents realistically prevent their little blighters from accessing filth on the Internet? Is this kind of censorship of the Web a slippery slope into a 1984-esque dystopia? Will newsagents experience a surge in top-shelf sales if the plans go ahead? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Comments 11
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J4M35 20 December, 2010 14:31
Am I allowed to think sexual thoughts? would you like me to install a telescreen in my bedroom so that politically correct idiot can watch my every move? Ugh. WHY DOES THIS COUNTRY HATE FREEDOM SO MUCH?
pete2106 20 December, 2010 15:48
You better not be thinking sexual thoughts J4M35, You'll corrupt the whole country with them and then world will end. It is good to know though that if I do ever have kids I wont have to take any responsibility as a parent for what they see and do.
thedarklaith 20 December, 2010 22:43
It's not going to be blocked forever, just going to be opt-in instead, I can imagine the call to the ISP lol.
I think it's a good idea I've been able to bypass filters placed using routers, and programs since a very young age, but I can also bypass ISP's in most countries so it wouldn't make any difference to me.
Anonymous 21 December, 2010 05:33
Yes I think in the future ISPs can realistically prevent children from accessing pornographic material, but certainly not with the simplistic non-practical "filtering" solution, they'll have to incorporate a better solution. But to me that's not the question, the question is what really will happen if children who are looking for these kind of websites can access it? I know most parents want to protect their children and block these sites, but really why?
"pornography: creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire" ---That's wordnet.princeton.edu definition.
So, what's the after-effect of having children who sexual desires?
I'm asking this as a real question, and sorry for the long comment..
Anonymous 21 December, 2010 06:36
"Conservative MP Claire Perry claimed only 15 per cent of computer-savvy parents knew how to set up filters on a PC"
She is lying and exaggerating, those parents are computer dummies.
Anonymous 21 December, 2010 09:18
Parents in this country should start taking responsibility for their own children, if they are happy to send their kids off into their bedrooms for hours on end with a computer just so they are out of sight and out of mind what do they expect.
If you don't want your child accessing explicit material let them use the computer in the same room as you are in. This includes games consoles where kids can happily shoot, stab, mame and murder in the name of fun. Hoodies, yobs, burglars and vandals as young as 9 and 10 years old are all the fault of bad parenting, parents don't want to manage their own children anymore, it is easier to let politicians, social services and school teachers do the work for them.
Adil_97 22 December, 2010 23:46
I'm against pornography but I think people need to control their kids
maybe if you are a paranoid parent, check their history, install a keylogger?
Anonymous 27 December, 2010 11:09
I'll admit I've only just moved here from the States and don't know how Brits feel about the whole freedom thing, but I'm shocked your government doesn't seem to think too highly of it. Keeping the kids away from porn is a parent's job; what good could possibly come of outsourcing it to elected bureaucrats?
anonymous 28 December, 2010 00:09
I like the idea of this, it's far to easy for kids to be exposed to pornography by accident, why not just let people choose when they sign up for a new internet connection "would you like us to block adult content?" my t-mobile phone blocked ladbrokes.com until I went on the website and proved I was over 18, it's no different to being asked for ID in a pub.
Anonymous 4 January, 2011 03:26
In my eyes its upto the parents to monitor and prevent their children from accessing these sites after all they are the ones paying for the internet subscription. Also think about it from the websites point of view if you block all smutty content then think of all the jobs that will be lost/suffer from the block.
Anonymous 4 January, 2011 12:18
More encroachment on civil liberties - Thank f**k I no longer live in the Orwellian nightmare that is modern day Britain.
Protecting children, what a lie, it is a trojan horse and step one to exert greater control over ISP's and then in turn all of the UK internet users.
Seems like the UK government is envious of Rupert Murdoch and it too wants a seat at the table of mass communication control.