Prime Minister David Cameron has given a vital – and very personal — boost to the campaign led by Marlborough’s Tory MP Claire Perry to protect children from gaining easy access to hard core internet pornography.
(See: ‘Huge sums made by internet porn makes it so hard to outlaw for children, claims Claire Perry‘)
She has welcomed the news that Mr Cameron is to launch a consultation at No 10 into child protection on the internet which will include a formal review of “opt-in” access to explicit sexual adult content.
“I am delighted that the Prime Minister is once again showing his commitment to protecting our children,” mother of three Mrs Perry, who chaired the cross-party parliamentary inquiry into online children protection, told Marlborough News Online.
“Our report made a number of key recommendations, including asking the government to lead a formal consultation into ‘opt-in’ filtering of adult content — and the whole team is really pleased that our work has paid off.”
“We know that families across Britain will welcome this news.”
Dozens of parents in her constituency have written to Mrs Perry supporting her efforts, which have resulted in the Daily Mail launching a supporting campaign seeking the introduction of automatic web filters that allow adults who want to view pornography to “opt in”.
This is one way of protecting children, now widely viewing pornography on their bedroom computers, which Mr Cameron wants to discuss with leading members of the 450 internet service providers (ISPs) operating in the UK, who have been reluctant to act.
Also on the agenda is a less stringent system which would mean viewers would have to make an “active choice” on whether to see pornography sites when they sign up with an ISP.
“It shows that Number 10 and particularly David Cameron is taking this issue really seriously,” added Mrs Perry. “All we wanted was a fact-based consultation on this.”
“Now let’s see what the details are and what the timings are, because we want to see this move quickly. We need a grown-up solution about the way forward.”
Meanwhile, head teachers have blamed the lack of parental control for what their children see online, new technology exposing them not only to pornography but also violence, in particular bullying and fighting as young people recreated what they had seen online.
Delegates at the National Association of Head Teachers conference have warned that children were more likely to view inappropriate content on mobile phones than the family home computer.
While mobile companies do block access to pornographic websites, young people can email or text explicit photographs or videos to one another by phone and had the opportunity to see combat films involving kung fu attacks and other inappropriate material.
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