§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he next intends to meet the Internet Service Providers Association to discuss the issues of pornography on electronic networks. [4735]
§ Mr. MichaelI intend to meet the Chief Executive of Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) shortly. The IWF is an independent industry body set up on 23 September 1996 with the support of the two major Internet Service Providers Trade Associations (the Internet Service Providers Association and the London Internet Exchange (LINX)) to tackle the problems of illegal material (particularly child pornography) on the Internet.
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which child pornography is being placed on the Internet by persons in the United Kingdom. [4736]
§ Mr. MichaelWe are concerned about the presence of child pornography on the Internet and the relative ease of access to such material. With the Metropolitan Police and other interested parties, we are examining ways of controlling access to such material. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) was set up last year to tackle the problems of illegal material (particularly child pornography) on the Internet and established a hotline on 3 December so that users could report the present of child pornography in a newsgroup. Since then, 1WF, have received 94 reports, covering 1,008 separate items relating to child pornography, of which 9, covering 71 items, refer to material apparently placed on the Internet by persons within the United Kingdom.