§ Sir Michael ShersbyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have taken place between his Department and the Internet Service Providers Association on the issue of child pornography; what proposals have been made to him for the creation of a mechanism to prevent the transmission of pornographic material; and if he will make a statement. [2050]
§ Mr. SackvilleOn 23 September, my hon. Friend the Minister for Science and Technology and I welcomed the setting up of an independent industry body to tackle the problems of illegal material, particularly child pornography, on the Internet. This followed discussions between our two departments, the police and representatives of Internet service providers.
The new body, the Internet Watch Foundation, will establish a "hotline" so that users can report the presence of child pornography in a newsgroup. The foundation will determine whether particular newsgroups carry child pornography, then forward the information to the relevant service provider, who will trace the originator and request that it is removed. Details will be passed to the police—or to the National Criminal Intelligence Service, if the originator is abroad. It will also encourage Internet service providers to ensure that their users provide new material with a contents rating before placing it on the Internet, and that these ratings are compatible and can be identified by computer software being introduced to the market.
This is an important step forward, although more work needs to be done by the industry. We shall be closely monitoring developments in this area.
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