§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to draw the attention of parents to the ease with which children can obtain access to pornographic material on the Internet; and if he will make a statement. [29744]
§ Mr. MichaelThe Government are aware that, while the Internet contains many websites which carry material aimed at the educational need of children, it can also be used for the distribution of pornographic and other potentially illegal material. In response to concerns about the availability of such material, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) was established in September 1996, following discussion between service providers, the Metropolitan Police and officials from the Home Office and Department of Trade and Industry. This is a self-regulatory organisation which is financed by voluntary contributions from the United Kingdom Internet industry and its aims are to determine whether particular newsgroups carry potentially illegal material, to trace the originator and to ask the Internet Service Providers to remove it from their servers. Details of child pornography676W are also sent to the police and the Foundation has established a "hotline" to enable users to report the presence of potentially illegal material in a newsgroup or website. The Government support the actions taken by the IWF in this respect.
Filtering software packages, such as Net Nanny, are available which enable parents to deny access to material containing sexually explicit words. Building on this, a working group of representatives from the IWF and Internet Service Providers has been devising a common ratings system suitable for United Kingdom Internet users on which there is growing international co-operation. This system is expected to address legal, but potentially offensive, material without curtailing freedom of expression. The Foundation aims to work on this system over the next 18 months and, once it is available, expects it to extend to newsgroups as well as websites. The IWF is also working with Internet Service Providers to develop better advice to Internet users about how to use the network safely and further details about this will be given in a publicity event due early next month.
In addition, the Department for Education and Employment commissioned the National Council for Educational Technology (now known as the British Educational and Communications Technology Agency) to prepare separate guidance for parents and teachers on access to computers. This is available free of charge and features advice on computer pornography within the wider context of the use of the computer within the home and the school. The guidance was drawn up in consultation with a number of interested parties, including the police. As well as addressing the problem of computer misuse, the guidance recognises the scope for the good use of computers and draws attention to the role of information technology in the National Curriculum, and the need to develop pupils' capabilities in the new technologies in preparation for working life.