PUBLISHED: 22:52, 21 July 2013 | UPDATED: 09:05, 22 July 2013
Net porn block on EVERY home: Victory for the Mail as PM pledges 'opt in' rule for all web users
">PM will today warn that internet pornography is 'corroding childhood'
>All internet-connected homes will be asked whether they want filters
>And all new subscribers will have to opt out if they want obscene material
>Porn simulating rape will also be banned under new legislation"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2372833/Internet-porn-block-EVERY-home-Victory-Mail-PM-David-Cameron-pledges-opt-rule.html
David Cameron declares war on internet pornography
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10194073/David-Cameron-declares-war-on-internet-pornography.html
Cameron cracks down on 'corroding influence' of online pornography
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jul/22/david-cameron-crackdown-internet-pornography?google_editors_picks=true
Internet Porn: David Cameron Plans Crackdown
http://news.sky.com/story/1118734/internet-porn-david-cameron-plans-crackdown
The net closes [is that headline ironic?]
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/justice/5027054/The-net-closes.html
David Cameron to announce crackdown on violent internet porn
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-to-announce-crackdown-on-violent-internet-porn-8725011.html
Cameron wants to use legislation to force search engines to stop users accessing images of child sex abuse [sic] online. [Gamble and Nolan]
http://audioboo.fm/boos/1513352-cameron-wants-to-use-legislation-to-force-search-engines-to-stop-users-accessing-images-of-child-sex-abuse-online
UK government to 'drain the market' [sic] of online child sex abuse [sic]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jul/22/uk-government-online-child-sex-abuse
WAR ON PORN: UK flicks switch on 'I am a pervert' web filters
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/22/war_on_erupts_in_britain/
Online pornography to be blocked by default, PM announces
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23401076
At last! The PM'S acted over online porn. I just hope he sees it through
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2372755/PM-David-Cameron-acts-online-porn.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
A bold offensive in the war on net porn
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2372831/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-A-bold-offensive-war-internet-porn.html
Cameron's anti-porn plans: problematic in practice, but right in principle. Conservatives aren't libertarians
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2013/07/by-paul-goodman-fleet-street-was-briefed-over-the-weekend-that-the-prime-ministers-anti-internet-porn-plan-marks-a-return-to.html
UPD3 Child Internet Safety and Censorship Measures Unveiled for UK ISPs
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/07/new-child-internet-safety-and-censorship-measures-unveiled-for-uk-isps.html
Google denying responsibility for online porn says Cameron: PM cracks down on search engines that are 'aiding' people in finding child abuse images
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2374420/Google-denying-responsibility-online-porn-says-Cameron-PM-cracks-search-engines-aiding-people-finding-child-abuse-images.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
*****
Why David Cameron's war on internet porn doesn't make sense
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/21/david-cameron-war-internet-porn
David Cameron has a porn problem
http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/david-cameron-has-a-porn-problem-1167534
Online Porn: Cameron Treads A Tricky Path
http://news.sky.com/story/1118855/online-porn-cameron-treads-a-tricky-path
David Cameron can't protect us from child porn because he doesn't understand the internet
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/micwright/100009396/david-cameron-cant-protect-us-from-child-porn-because-he-doesnt-understand-the-internet/
Paedophiles [sic] will 'laugh at' web porn crackdown, says ex police chief
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/paedophiles-will-laugh-at-web-porn-crackdown-says-ex-police-chief-8725717.html
Cameron's crackdown on illegal pornography criticised
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10194641/Camerons-crackdown-on-illegal-pornography-criticised.html
The hypocrisy of Cameron’s war on porn
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2013/07/22/the-hypocrisy-of-camerons-war-on-porn/
David Cameron’s porn announcement shows unusual media aggression
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/isabel-hardman/2013/07/david-camerons-porn-announcement-shows-unusual-media-aggression/
10 questions about Cameron’s 'war on porn'
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/07/10-questions-about-cameron%E2%80%99s-war-porn
http://paulbernal.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/10-questions-about-camerons-new-porn-blocking/
Cameron's Bizarre Warning To Google, Bing and Yahoo Over Child Pornography
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/07/21/camerons-bizarre-warning-to-google-bing-and-yahoo-over-child-pornography/
The UK’s opt-in system for porn is a terrible idea, and here’s why
http://paidcontent.org/2013/07/22/the-uks-opt-in-system-for-porn-is-a-terrible-idea-and-heres-why/
Update: Cameron to Attempt to Ban Everything on the Internet...
http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/gcnews.htm#Cameron_to_Attempt_to_Ban_Everything_on_the_Internet_6622
More Innocent People to be Jailed...
http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/gch.htm#More_Innocent_People_to_be_Jailed_9933
David Cameron's internet porn war won't put women off watching it
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/10194949/David-Camerons-internet-porn-war-wont-put-women-off-watching-it.html
Big questions over Cameron’s plans to combat internet porn
http://blogs.channel4.com/geoff-white-on-technology/2013/07/22/big-questions-camerons-plans-combat-internet-porn/
Porn, porn everywhere. But will David Cameron’s proposals actually work?
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/07/porn-porn-everywhere-but-will-david-camerons-proposals-actually-work/
Blacklisting Child Porn Search Terms Not the Answer to Tackling Paedophilia [sic]
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/493119/20130722/blacklisting-child-porn-images-answer-tackling-paedophilia.htm
Cameron's porn opt-in: your reactions
http://www.channel4.com/news/david-cameron-speech-porn-opt-in-isp?google_editors_picks=true
Why David Cameron's proposed internet porn shield is full of holes
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/internet-porn-david-camerons-porn-2075995
Opinion: Cameron’s porn ban – what does it mean?
http://www.libdemvoice.org/opinion-camerons-porn-ban-what-does-it-mean-35417.html
David Cameron's Porn Crackdown: Why Not Page 3 Too? Ask Campaigners
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/22/david-camerons-porn-crackdown_n_3633972.html
Can we trust the state to censor porn?
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/nick-cohen/2013/07/can-we-trust-the-state-to-censor-porn/
Comment: Three bad ideas about sex and the internet
http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2013/07/22/comment-three-bad-ideas-about-sex-and-the-internet
War On Porn In The UK: Does David Cameron's Plan To Battle Child Pornography Go Too Far?
http://www.ibtimes.com/war-porn-uk-does-david-camerons-plan-battle-child-pornography-go-too-far-video-1355279
David Cameron is wrong about blocking online porn
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/opinion/2283873/david-cameron-is-wrong-about-blocking-online-porn
Online porn block: Legit sites to suffer from David Cameron's ignorance
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/feature/2283916/online-porn-block-legit-sites-to-suffer-from-david-camerons-ignorance
Online pornography: Cameron's 'war' muddles two separate issues
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jul/22/david-cameron-crusade-internet-pornography
Cameron is getting tough on internet porn, so is a Fantasy Tsar now going to decide what's acceptable?
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/cameron-is-getting-tough-on-internet-porn-so-is-a-fantasy-tsar-now-going-to-decide-whats-acceptable-8726488.html
David Cameron's internet pornography 'opt in' plans criticised
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a500223/david-camerons-internet-pornography-opt-in-plans-criticised.html
David Cameron is going after porn online, while trying to kick a stream uphill
http://www.bitterwallet.com/david-cameron-is-going-after-porn-online-while-trying-to-kick-a-stream-uphill/66790
Online porn ban: David Cameron retreats in war on internet porn, admitting there will be 'problems down the line' amid debate over censorship
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/online-porn-ban-david-cameron-retreats-in-war-on-internet-porn-admitting-there-will-be-problems-down-the-line-amid-debate-over-censorship-8726991.html
UK's Anti-Pornography Plan Is Scary, Pointless Grandstanding
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-07/david-camerons-anti-pornography-legislation-scary-grandstanding
Prime Minister David Cameron: Google, Bing and Yahoo! 'Enable' Child Porn
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130721/19445823878/prime-minister-david-cameron-google-bing-yahoo-enable-child-porn.shtml
Google and ISPs efforts won't stop spread of child abuse images, warns NetClean CEO
http://www.itpro.co.uk/security/20043/google-and-isps-efforts-wont-stop-spread-child-abuse-images-warns-netclean-ceo
Online porn block proposals by Government panned
http://www.itpro.co.uk/government-it-strategy/20241/online-porn-block-proposals-government-panned
Laughable Censorship of Search Terms...
http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/gcnews.htm#Laughable_Censorship_of_Search_Terms_7673
Family filters won't block 'soft' porn: David Cameron retreats in war on internet porn, admitting there will be 'problems down the line'
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/family-filters-wont-block-soft-porn-david-cameron-retreats-in-war-on-internet-porn-admitting-there-will-be-problems-down-the-line-8726991.html
Porn turns conservatives into nanny-statists
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/07/27/chris-selley-porn-turns-conservatives-into-nanny-statists/
Top Child Abuse Investigator joins ISP head in questioning Cameron’s Porn Policy
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/07/23/top-child-abuse-investigator-joins-isp-head-questioning-cameron-s-porn-policy
Wikipedia founder brands PM's porn filters plan 'ridiculous'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23558865
Jimbo Wales: ISP smut blocking systems simply 'ridiculous'
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/05/jimmy_wales_attacks_uk_smut_filtering_plan_as_ridiculous/
ISPs: Relax. Blocking smut online WON'T really work
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/24/war_on_smut_claire_perry_hacked/
Should Rape Porn Be Banned?
http://prospect.org/article/should-rape-porn-be-banned
I'm Not Sure That Google's New Child Pornography Database Is Going To Work
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/06/17/im-not-sure-that-googles-new-child-pornograhy-database-is-going-to-work/
Cameron’s crusade and the ‘sexting’ generation
http://tomocarroll.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/camerons-crusade-and-the-sexting-generation
5 reasons why the UK government’s anti-porn proposals are a joke
http://thenextweb.com/uk/2013/07/22/5-reasons-why-the-uk-governments-anti-porn-proposals-are-a-joke/
*****
.... and, here the dangerous joke, for all posterity ...
*****
Monday, 22 July 2013 11:04 AM
David Cameron's porn speech in full
"Today, I am going to tread into territory that can be hard for our
society to confront that is frankly difficult for politicians to talk
about but that I believe we need to address as a matter of urgency.
I want to talk about the internet the impact it is having on the
innocence of our children how online pornography is corroding childhood
and how, in the darkest corners of the internet, there are things going
on that are a direct danger to our children, and that must be stamped
out.
I’m not making this speech because I want to moralise or scare-monger,
but because I feel profoundly as a politician, and as a father, that the
time for action has come.
This is, quite simply, about how we protect our children and their innocence.
THE INTERNET: BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES
Let me be very clear, right at the start.
The internet has transformed our lives for the better.
It helps liberate those who are oppressed it allows people to tell
truth to power it brings education to those previously denied it it adds
billions to our economy it is one of the most profound and era-changing
inventions in human history.
But because of this, the internet can sometimes be given a special
status in debate in fact it can be seen as beyond debate that to raise
concerns about how people should access the internet or what should be
on it is somehow naïve or backward-looking.
People feel they are being told the following ‘an unruly, un-ruled
internet is just a fact of modern life any fall-out from that is just
collateral damage you can as easily legislate what happens on the
internet as you can legislate the tides.’
Against this mind-set, people – and most often parents’ – very real
concerns are dismissed; they’re told “the internet is too big to mess
with, too big to change” but to me, the questions around the internet
and the impact it has are too big to ignore.
The internet is not just where we buy, sell and socialise it is where
crimes happen and where people can get hurt and it is where children and
young people learn about the world, each other, and themselves.
The fact is that the growth of the internet as an unregulated space has
thrown up two major challenges when it comes to protecting our
children.
The first challenge is criminal: and that is the proliferation and accessibility of child abuse images on the internet.
The second challenge is cultural: the fact that many children are
viewing online pornography and other damaging material at a very young
age and that the nature of that pornography is so extreme, it is
distorting their view of sex and relationships.
Let me be clear.
These challenges are very distinct and very different.
In one we’re talking about illegal material the other legal material that is being viewed by those who are underage.
But both these challenges have something in common.
They are about how our collective lack of action on the internet has
led to harmful – and in some cases truly dreadful - consequences for
children.
Of course, a free and open internet is vital.
But in no other market – and with no other industry – do we have such
an extraordinarily light touch when it comes to protecting our children.
Children can’t go into the shops or the cinema and buy things meant for
adults or have adult experiences – we rightly regulate to protect them.
But when it comes to the internet in the balance between freedom and
responsibility, we have neglected our responsibility to our children.
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.
So we have got to be more active, more aware, more responsible about what happens online.
And I mean ‘we’ collectively government, parents, internet providers and platforms, educators and charities.
We’ve got to work together across both the challenges I have set out.
CHILD ABUSE IMAGES
Let me start with the criminal challenge – and that is the proliferation of child abuse images online.
Obviously we need to tackle this at every step of the way – whether
it’s where this material is hosted, transmitted, viewed or downloaded.
I am absolutely clear that the State has a vital role to play.
The police and CEOP – that is the Child Exploitation and Online
Protection centre – are already doing a good job in clamping down on the
uploading and hosting of this material in the UK.
Indeed, they have together cut the total amount of known child abuse
content hosted in the UK from 18 per cent of the global total in 1996 to
less than 1 per cent today.
They are also doing well on disrupting the so-called ‘hidden internet’,
where people can share illegal files and on peer-to-peer sharing of
images through photo-sharing sites or networks away from the mainstream
internet.
Once CEOP becomes a part of the National Crime Agency, that will
further increase their ability to investigate behind pay walls to shine a
light on the hidden internet and to drive prosecutions of those who are
found to use it.
So let me be clear to any offender who might think otherwise there is
no such thing as a ‘safe’ place on the internet to access child abuse
material.
But government needs to do more.
We will give CEOP and the police all the powers they need to keep pace with the changing nature of the internet.
And today I can announce that from next year, we will also link up
existing fragmented databases across all the police forces to produce a
single secure database of illegal images of children which will help
police in different parts of the country work together more effectively
to close the net on paedophiles.
It will also enable the industry to use the digital hash tags from the database to
pro-actively scan for, block and take down these images wherever they occur.
And that’s exactly what the industry has agreed to do.
Because this isn’t just a job for government.
The Internet Service Providers and the search engine companies have a
vital role to play and we have already reached a number of important
agreements with them.
A new UK-US taskforce is being formed to lead a global alliance with
the big players in the industry to stamp out these vile images.
I have asked Joanna Shields, CEO of Tech City and our Business
Ambassador for Digital Industries, who is here today, to head up
engagement with industry for this task force and she will work with both
the UK and US governments and law enforcement agencies to maximise our
international efforts.
Here in Britain, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are already actively
engaged on a major campaign to deter people who are searching for child
abuse images.
I cannot go into detail about this campaign, because that would
undermine its effectiveness but I can tell you it is robust, it is
hard-hitting, and it is a serious deterrent to people looking for these
images.
Where images are reported they are immediately added to a list and
blocked by search engines and ISPs, so that people cannot access those
sites.
These search engines also act to block illegal images and the URLs, or
pathways that lead to these images from search results, once they have
been alerted to their existence.
But here, to me, is the problem.
The job of actually identifying these images falls to a small body called the Internet Watch Foundation.
This is a world-leading organisation, but it relies almost entirely on
members of the public reporting things they have seen online.
So the search engines themselves have a purely reactive position.
When they’re prompted to take something down, they act.
Otherwise, they don’t.
And if an illegal image hasn’t been reported – it can still be returned in searches.
In other words, the search engines are not doing enough to take responsibility.
Indeed in this specific area they are effectively denying responsibility.
And this situation has continued because of a technical argument.
It goes that the search engines shouldn’t be involved in finding out
where these images are that they are just the ‘pipe’ that delivers the
images and that holding them responsible would be a bit like holding the
Post Office responsible for sending on illegal objects in anonymous
packages.
But that analogy isn’t quite right.
Because the search engine doesn’t just deliver the material that people see it helps to identify it.
Companies like Google make their living out of trawling and
categorising content on the web so that in a few key-strokes you can
find what you’re looking for out of unimaginable amounts of information.
Then they sell advertising space to companies, based on your search patterns.
So to return to that analogy, it would be like the Post Office helping
someone to identify and order the illegal material in the first place –
and then sending it onto them in which case they absolutely would be
held responsible for their actions.
So quite simply: we need the search engines to step up to the plate on this.
We need a situation where you cannot have people searching for child
abuse images and being aided in doing so where if people do try and
search for these things, they are not only blocked, but there are clear
and simple signs warning them that what they are trying to do is illegal
and where there is much more accountability on the part of the search
engines to actually help find these sites and block them.
On all these things, let me tell you what we’ve already done and what we are going to do.
What we have already done is insist that clear, simple warning pages
are designed and placed wherever child abuse sites have been identified
and taken down so that if someone arrives at one of these sites, they
are clearly warned that the page contained illegal images.
These splash pages are up on the internet from today, and this is a vital step forward.
But we need to go further.
These warning pages should also tell those who’ve landed on it that
they face consequences, such as losing their job, their family, even
access to their children if they continue.
And vitally, they should direct them to the charity campaign ‘Stop It
Now’, which can help them change their behaviour anonymously and in
complete confidence.
On people searching for these images there are some searches where
people should be given clear routes out of that search to legitimate
sites on the web.
So here’s an example.
If someone is typing in ‘child’ and ‘sex’ there should come up a list of options:
‘Do you mean child sex education?’
‘Do you mean child gender?’
What should not be returned is a list of pathways into illegal images
which have yet to be identified by CEOP or reported to the IWF.
Then there are some searches which are so abhorrent and where there can
be no doubt whatsoever about the sick and malevolent intent of the
searcher that there should be no search results returned at all.
Put simply - there needs to be a list of terms – a black list – which offer up no direct search returns.
So I have a very clear message for Google, Bing, Yahoo and the rest.
You have a duty to act on this – and it is a moral duty.
I simply don’t accept the argument that some of these companies have
used to say that these searches should be allowed because of freedom of
speech.
On Friday I sat with the parents of Tia Sharp and April Jones.
They want to feel that everyone involved is doing everything they can
to play their full part in helping to rid the internet of child abuse
images.
So I have called for a progress report in Downing Street in October, with the search engines coming in to update me.
The question we have asked is clear:
If CEOP give you a black-list of internet search terms, will you commit to stop offering up any returns to these searches?
If in October we don’t like the answer we’re given to this question if
the progress is slow or non-existent then I can tell you we are already
looking at the legislative options we have to force action.
And there’s a further message I have for the search engines.
If there are technical obstacles to acting on this, don’t just stand by
and say nothing can be done; use your great brains to help overcome
them.
You’re the people who have worked out how to map almost every inch of
the earth from space who have developed algorithms that make sense of
vast quantities of information.
You're the people who take pride in doing what they say can’t be done.
You hold hackathons for people to solve impossible internet conundrums.
Well – hold a hackathon for child safety.
Set your greatest brains to work on this.
You are not separate from our society, you are part of our society, and you must play a responsible role in it.
This is quite simply about obliterating this disgusting material from the net – and we will do whatever it takes.
CHILDREN ACCESSING PORNOGRAPHY
So that’s how we are going to deal with the criminal challenge.
The cultural challenge is the fact that many children are watching
online pornography - and finding other damaging material online – at an
increasingly young age.
Now young people have always been curious about pornography and they have always sought it out.
But it used to be that society could protect children by enforcing age
restrictions on the ground whether that was setting a minimum age for
buying top-shelf magazines, putting watersheds on the TV, or age rating
films and DVDs.
But the explosion of pornography on the internet – and the explosion of
the internet into children’s lives – has changed all that profoundly.
It’s made it much harder to enforce age restrictions and much more difficult for parents to know what’s going on.
But we as a society need to be clear and honest about what is going on.
For a lot of children, watching hardcore pornography – is in danger of becoming a rite of passage.
In schools up and down our country, from the suburbs to the inner city,
there are young people who think it’s normal to send pornographic
material as a prelude to dating in the same way you might once have sent
a note across the classroom.
Over a third of children have received a sexually explicit text or email.
In a survey, a quarter of children said they’d seen pornography which had upset them.
This is happening. It’s happening on our watch as adults.
And the effect can be devastating.
Our children are growing up too fast.
They are getting distorted ideas about sex and being pressured in a way we have never seen before.
As a father I am extremely concerned by this.
Now this is where some could say – ‘it’s fine for you to have a view as
a parent; but not as Prime Minister… this is an issue for parents, not
for the state.’
But the way I see it, there is a contract between parents and the state.
Parents say – ‘we’ll do our best to raise our children right’ – and the
state agrees to stand on their side; to make that job a bit easier, not
harder.
But when it comes to internet pornography, parents have been left too much on their own and I am determined to put that right.
We all need to work together - both to prevent children from accessing
pornography, and to educate them about keeping safe online.
This is about access and it’s about education, and let me tell you what we’re doing on each.
ACCESS: FILTERS, PHONES AND WI-FI
On access, things have changed profoundly in recent years.
Not long ago, access to the internet was mainly restricted to the PC in
the corner of the living room, with a beeping dial up modem, downstairs
in the house where parents could keep an eye on things.
Now it’s on smart phones, lap-tops, tablet computers, games consoles.
And with high speed connections that make movie downloads and real time
streaming possible parents need even more help to protect their
children across all these fronts.
So on mobile phones, it is great to report that all of the operators
have now agreed to put adult content filters onto phones automatically.
To deactivate them you will need to prove you are over 18 and the operators will continue to refine and improve those filters.
On public Wi-Fi – of which more than 90 per cent is provided by six companies – O2, Virgin Media, Sky, Nomad, BT and Arqiva.
I’m pleased to say we have now reached an agreement with all of them
that family-friendly filters are to be applied across the public Wi-Fi
network wherever children are likely to be present.
This will be done by the end of next month.
And we are keen to introduce a “Family Friendly Wi-Fi” symbol which
retailers, hotels and transport companies can use to show their
customers that their public Wi-Fi is filtered.
That is how we’re protecting children outside of the home.
Inside the home, on the private family network, it is a more complicated issue.
There has been a big debate about whether internet filters should be set to a default
‘on’ position in other words, with adult content filters applied by default – or not.
Let’s be clear.
This has never been a debate about companies or government censoring
the internet but about filters to protect children at the home network
level.
Those who wanted default ‘on’ said – it’s a no-brainer just have the
filters set to ‘on’ - then adults can turn them off if they want to and
that way we can protect all children, whether their parents are engaged
in internet safety or not.
But others said default ‘on’ filters could create a dangerous sense of complacency.
They said that with default filters, parents wouldn’t bother to keep an
eye on what their kids are watching as they’d be complacent and assume
the whole thing was taken care of.
I say: we need both we need good filters that are pre-selected to be on
unless an adult turns them off and we need parents aware and engaged in
the setting of those filters.
So that’s what we’ve worked hard to achieve.
I appointed Claire Perry to take charge of this for the very simple
reason that she is passionate about this issue and determined to get
things done.
She has worked with the big 4 internet service providers TalkTalk,
Virgin, Sky and BT who together supply internet connections to almost 9
out of 10 homes and today, after months of negotiation, we have agreed
home network filters that are the best of both worlds.
By the end of this year, when someone sets up a new broadband account
the settings to install family friendly filters will be automatically
selected.
If you just click “next” or “enter”, then the filters are automatically on.
And, in a really big step forward, all the ISPs have rewired their
technology so that once your filters are installed, they will cover any
device connected to your home internet account.
No more hassle of downloading filters for every device, just one click protection.
One click to protect your whole home and keep your children safe.
Now once those filters are installed, it should not be the case that
technically literate children can just flick the filters off at the
click of a mouse without anyone knowing.
So we have agreed with industry that those filters can only be changed by the account holder, who has to be an adult.
So an adult has to be engaged in the decisions.
But of course, all this just deals with the ‘flow’ of new customers –
those switching service providers or buying an internet connection for
the first time.
It does not deal with the huge ‘stock’ of existing customers – almost
19 million households so this is now where we need to set our sights.
Following the work we’ve already done with the service providers, they have now agreed to take a big step.
By the end of next year, they will have contacted all of their existing
customers and presented them with an unavoidable decision about whether
or not to install family friendly content filters.
TalkTalk, who have shown great leadership on this, have already started and are asking existing customers as I speak.
We are not prescribing how the ISPs should contact their customers – it’s up to them to find their own technological solutions.
But however they do it, there will be no escaping this decision, no ‘remind me later’ and then it never gets done.
And they will ensure it is an adult making the choice.
If adults don’t want these filters – that’s their decision.
But for the many parents who would like to be prompted or reminded,
they’ll get that reminder, and they’ll be shown very clearly how to put
on family friendly filters.
This is a big improvement on what we had before, and I want to thank the service providers for getting on board with this.
But let me be clear.
I want this to be a priority for all internet service providers not just now, but always.
That’s why I am asking today for the small companies in the market to
adopt this approach too and why I'm asking OFCOM, the industry
regulator, to oversee this work, judge how well the ISPs are doing and
report back regularly.
If they find that we are not protecting children effectively I will not hesitate to take further action.
But let me also just say this.
I know there are lots of charities and other organisations which
provide vital online advice and support that many young people depend
on.
And we need to make sure that the filters do not – even unintentionally – restrict this helpful and often educational content.
So I will be asking the UK Council for Child Internet Safety to set up a
working group to ensure that this doesn’t happen as well as talking to
parents about how effective they think the filter products are.
EDUCATION
So making filters work is one front we are acting on; the other is education.
In the new national curriculum, launched just a couple of weeks ago,
there are unprecedented requirements to teach children about online
safety.
That doesn’t mean teaching young children about pornography, it means sensible,
age-appropriate education about what to expect on the internet.
We need to teach our children not just about how to stay safe online
but how to behave online too – on social media and over phones with
their friends.
And it’s not just children that need to be educated – but parents.
People of my generation grew up in a completely different world.
Our parents kept an eye on us in the world they could see.
This is still a relatively new, digital landscape – a world of online
profiles and passwords - and speaking as a parent, most of us need help
navigating it.
Companies like Vodafone already do a good job at giving parents advice
about online safety they spend millions on it and today they are
launching the latest edition of their digital parenting guide.
They are also going to publish a million copies of a new educational
tool for younger children called the Digital Facts of Life.
And I am pleased to announce something else today a new, major,
national campaign, that’s going to be launched in the new year, that is
being backed by the four major internet service providers as well as
other child-focused companies that will speak directly to parents about
how to keep their children safe online and how to talk to their children
about other dangers like sexting and online bullying.
Government is going to play its part too.
We get millions of people interacting with government, whether that’s
sorting out their road tax, on their Twitter account or – soon –
registering for Universal Credit.
I have asked that we use these interactions to keep up the campaign, to
prompt parents to think about filters, and to let them know how they
can keep their children safe online.
This is about all of us playing our part.
EXTREME PORNOGRAPHY LAW CHANGE
So we’re taking action on how children access this stuff, on how
they’re educated about it and I can tell you today we are also taking
action on the content that is online.
There are certain types of pornography that can only be described as ‘extreme’.
I am talking particularly about pornography that is violent, and that depicts simulated rape.
These images normalise sexual violence against women – and they are quite simply poisonous to the young people who see them.
The legal situation is that although it’s been a crime to publish
pornographic portrayals of rape for decades, existing legislation does
not cover possession of this material – at least in England and Wales.
Possession of such material is already an offence in Scotland but
because of a loophole in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008,
it is not an offence South of the border.
Well I can tell you today we are changing that.
We are closing the loophole – making it a criminal offence to possess internet pornography that depicts rape.
And we are doing something else to make sure that the same rules apply online as they do offline.
There are some examples of extreme pornography that are so bad that you can’t even buy this material in a licensed sex shop.
And today I can announce we will be legislating so that videos streamed
online in the UK are subject to the same rules as those sold in shops.
Put simply – what you can’t get in a shop, you will no longer be able to get online.
CONCLUSION
Everything I’ve spoken about today comes back to one thing: the kind of society we want to be.
I want Britain to be the best place to raise a family.
A place where your children are safe.
Where there’s a sense of right and wrong, and boundaries between them.
Where children are allowed to be children.
All the actions we’re taking come back to that.
Protecting the most vulnerable in our society; protecting innocence; protecting childhood itself.
That is what is at stake.
And I will do whatever it takes to keep our children safe."
http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2013/07/22/david-cameron-s-porn-speech-in-full
*****
Do Not Force ISP Filtering of Pornography and Other Content
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/51746
*****
Hackers Have Already Cracked The UK Porn Filter
http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-have-already-cracked-the-uk-porn-filter-2013-7
Unblock Torrent Sites, Blocked Proxies, & Cameron’s Porn Filter With Immunicity
http://torrentfreak.com/unblock-torrent-sites-blocked-proxies-camerons-porn-filter-with-immunicity-130728/?utm_source=feedly
*****
Why the UK Online Content Ban Will Hurt not Help Our Kids
http://internetsafety.trendmicro.com/why-the-uk-online-content-ban-will-hurt-not-help-our-kids
Porn filters: 12 reasons why they won't work (and 3 reasons why they might)
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check/2013/aug/08/porn-filters-evidence-for-against
Government to "get to grips" with Rape-Porn
http://obscenitylawyer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/government-to-get-to-grips-with-rape.html
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