§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many pornographic images of children have been removed from the internet following investigations by(a) police and (b) their agencies in each year since 2000. [161335]
§ Paul GogginsIt is not possible to say how many indecent images of children have been removed from the internet as a result of police or other investigations.1008W Even where an internet site is closed down following an investigation, many of the images that were on it may remain in circulation through other websites, newsgroups, or other internet activity. Nor can we be certain how many sites hosted outside the UK have been closed down following reports originating within the UK. Figures from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) show that the percentage of sites reported to them found to contain illegal images of children which were hosted in the UK fell from 18 per cent. in 1997, to 3 per cent. in 2000, and to 1 per cent. in 2003. The number of sites within the UK identified in each year from 2000 is given in the table. In each of these cases the internet service providers concerned removed the offending material and police inquiries were made. In 2003 the IWF also identified 510,000 indecent photographs of children carried on newsgroups through the UK's Usenet infrastructure, resulting in access to these being stopped by the IWF members who provide a Usenet feed to their customers.
Number of UK hosted sites identified as potentially illegal by the IWF Potentially illegal content:UK 2000 74 2001 80 2002 88 2003 34 Total 276