MPs call on ISPs to do more to keep children away from porn

A cross-party Parliamentary inquiry into child protection online has renewed calls for the blocking of adult content on the internet.

The Independent Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Child Protection found that children were easily accessing pornography online and said that exposure to it was having a ‘negative impact' on attitudes towards sex, relationships and body image.

It called on the Government to once again consider a compulsory opt-in scheme for accessing adult content online. The inquiry also recommended that all public Wifi networks should have a ‘default adult-content bar'.

While the inquiry noted efforts from internet service providers (ISPs) to implement parental controls, it claimed more needs to be done. It said that within the next 12 months, ISPs should introduce a ‘single account network filter' to ensure that adult content can be blocked from all devices on a network.

The UK's four biggest ISPs, BT, Sky, Talk Talk and Virgin have all signed up to a code of conduct, which requires new customers to choose if they want adult content filtering on their internet account

Conservative MP and chairwoman of the inquiry Claire Perry said that people found it difficult to understand how to block adult content and that ISPs needed to do more to keep children safe:

"While parents should be responsible for their children's online safety, in practice people find it difficult to put content filters on the plethora of internet-enabled devices in their homes, plus families lack the right information and education on internet safety.

"It's time that Britain's internet service providers, who make more than £3 billion a year from selling internet access services, took on more of the responsibility to keep children safe, and the Government needs to send a strong message that this is what we all expect."

During the inquiry, MPs heard evidence from ISPs, pornographers, child-protection groups and Deidre Sanders, Agony Aunt for The Sun newspaper.

Ms Sanders said that people were now accessing pornography at younger ages:

"I am hearing from a 13-year-old girl being pressured into trying a threesome; the mind boggles, really. There is certain behaviour I only used to have bald 40-year-olds asking me about it, now under-16s are thinking about it."

Jerry Barnett, managing director of adult-pornography website Strictly Broadband, said that the adult-entertainment industry would ‘love to see the free material vanish' and sell pornography ‘at higher prices', thus making it less accessible to children.

The report, sponsored by a religious media organisation called Premier Christian Media, comes off the back of numerous stories about porn-blocking in the UK.

Earlier this month a Private Members' Bill called for ISPs to block pornography, while in October last year internet providers reacted angrily to inaccurate reports about adult content blocking.