Child Protection on the Internet (Hansard, 9 May 2001)

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary met representatives from the industry involved in providing Internet services in the United Kingdom, children's charities, law enforcement agencies and others on 28 March 2001, where it was agreed to form a Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet.

199WA

The Task Force is a partnership of representatives from: Internet Service Providers (ISP); retailers and manufacturers; children's charities; representatives from the main opposition parties; law enforcement agencies; and academics. It has the following aims and objectives:

Aims:

To make the United Kingdom the best and safest place in the world for children to use the Internet; and to help protect children the world over from abuse fuelled by criminal misuse of new technologies.

Objectives:

Building on current good practice, for industry involved in providing Internet services in the United Kingdom to promote ethical business standards across the industry;

Building on existing co-operation, for law enforcement agencies and industry involved in providing Internet services in the United Kingdom to work together to develop effective procedures to prevent, detect and investigate crime on the Internet;

For the Government to ensure that the law properly covers criminal activity on the Internet; and to consider, in co-operation with the industry involved in providing Internet services in the United Kingdom, the structure of co-regulation for the industry and whether it needs to be strengthened;

Building on the recommendations of the Internet Crime Forum in its report Chatwise Streetwise for the industry involved in providing Internet services in the United Kingdom to offer services with effective safeguards for children.

The work will be underpinned by a new public awareness campaign later this year and by government and industry leadership in international initiatives in the European Union and more widely.

A copy of the full aims and objectives and list of organisations represented on the task force has been placed in the Library.