Backed by five other cross-party MPs, Claire Perry knocked on the door of No 10 Downing Street yesterday (Thursday) and handed in a petition signed by more than 115,000 people demanding action to block children watching internet pornography.
The petition, organised by the online safety campaigning group SafetyNet, calls for the government to mandate that internet service providers introduce a default Opt-In filter system for adult content on the internet.
It was presented yesterday to coincide with the ending of the government’s 10-week consultation on internet parental controls, which has resulted in more than 2,000 responses being sent to the Department of Education.
Claire told Marlborough News Online: “The voices of over 110,000 ‘ordinary people’ are being heard loudly and clearly at the heart of government and they are asking for a simple solution to the problem of keeping our children safe online – an Opt In system for adult material.
| Parents are too complacent warns Claire Perry
Claire Perry took part last night (Thursday) in a Newsnight TV debate on the dangers of paedophiles grooming children –often by giving them a mobile phone whose existence they keep secret — and the question of filtering internet pornography. The programme stressed the need to make children aware of the dangers through talks in primary schools, children’s homes and youth clubs. “Parents are frequently incredibly complacent,” said Mrs Perry. “Only four out of 10 families use new technology to protect their children from harmful effects of internet pornography. “Now with the new smart phone they are accessible all the time. I’ve got three children. I ask myself why don’t I feel confident at looking at their phone messages. We have given our children this unprecedented access. You feel you have the right to do that. We have given them this private bubble we didn’t have. But we don’t.” She disdained government legislation to control the internet but added: “Lots of people should be getting involved, specifically the internet service providers of which just six provide 95 per cent access in the home in Britain. They make about £3.5 billion a year. “The internet is the only form of media where there is no control. On television we have a watershed, films we have ratings, why should the internet be different? I’d like to have a bit more protection, a bit more filtering of some of the adult content.” |
“This is one of the recommendations made by our independent parliamentary inquiry into online child protection and we were delighted that the government listened to us and set up an official consultation on this important issue.”
“With that process coming to an end, it is crucial to make sure that the views of parents across the country are heard.”
More than 60 cross-party MPs and peers supported the parliamentary inquiry, chaired by Mrs Perry, who has three children, which reported in April.
The petition, contained in seven plastic boxes, will now be handed over to newly-appointed Culture Secretary of State Maria Miller, who is responsible for internet policy.
And in a letter to Mrs Miller, also mother of three children, SafetyNet pointed out that one in three children aged 10 have watched pornography online, the largest group of internet pornography consumers to be in the 12 to 17 age group.
“Our petition shows that there is a massive groundswell of opinion at all levels that the government and internet service providers must act urgently,” said SafetyNet spokeswoman Miranda Suit.
“An opt-in network level filter with the default setting of porn off will provide the best protection.”
