Private Members Bill seeks to introduce porn filters to all internet services
Tuesday 03 April 2012 16:15:09 by Andrew Ferguson

Baroness Howe of Idlicote has introduced a Private Members Bill that seeks to promote online safety, with safety being defined as requiring internet service providers and mobile phone operators to provide a service that excludes pornographic images.

Duty to provide a service that excludes pornographic images.

1. Internet service providers must provide to subscribers an internet access service which excludes pornographic images unless all the conditions of subsection (3) have been fulfilled.
2. Where mobile telephone network operators provide a telephone service to subscribers which includes an internet access service, they must ensure this service excludes pornographic images unless all the conditions of subsection (3) have been fulfilled.
3. The conditions are—
   
   • the subscriber opts-in to subscribe to a service that includes pornographic images;
   • the subscriber is aged 18 or over; and
   • the provider of the service has an age verification policy which has been used to confirm that the subscriber is aged 18 or over.

Extract from proposed bill

Adrian Kennard gives an insight into the complications for a broadband provider on his personal blog. Mandating the requirement to provide a filtered service would require a massive investment in resources if the filters are to be effective. Mobile phone providers currently run a proof of 18 requirement for access to adult services, which covers not just pornography but other services like online gambling. These are far from foolproof, and also generate lots of false positives blocking access to new sites until they have been categorised, and even then a website can offer varied content.

Methods for filtering an internet connection are already available to consumers, and TalkTalk has a provider based system that parents can use, in addition to the various content filtering programs, which will also allow other types of filtering that may be as offensive such sites promoting self-harming, drug abuse and violence.

Along with the recent news of potentially more invasive internet traffic monitoring, the state control of what we can see and do in the privacy of our homes even as adults is more and more under threat. Imagine the outcry in five years time if this bill was passed and a child viewed pornography at a friends house because the parents had opted to allow it to be viewed for their personal adult use. For broadband providers there would also be the risk of court action if their filtering failed to block something or a minor managed to circumvent the age checking systems.