Internet Watch Foundation

Margaret Hodge: I have been asked to reply.

 

I refer to the answer of 2 February 2006, Official Report, column 599W, given by the Minister for State for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality. At the national level, there are no plans to increase regulation in this area. Creation and use of websites is not a regulated activity. However, arrangements are in place under the Electronic Commerce Regulations to enable internet service providers in the UK to take down inappropriate content when they are notified of its existence. Activities conducted through websites are subject to the general law in the same way as any other offline activity.

 

All published material including violent pornography, is subject to the Obscene Publication Act 1959, which makes illegal the publication of an article whose effect, taken as a whole, is to tend to deprave and corrupt those likely to read, see or hear it. Responsibility for the prevention of the physical importation of obscene material lies with HM Revenue and Customs under the terms of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876 and section 170(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.

 

The Obscene Publication Act applies equally to material published over the internet, though the overwhelming majority of obscene material published on the internet originates abroad and beyond our jurisdiction. This raises a challenge to our controls on obscene material. The Government are therefore proposing to make illegal the possession of a limited category of extreme pornographic material in measures to be introduced in the forthcoming Criminal Justice Bill.

 

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) supported by the UK industry and the European Union works to minimise the availability of illegal internet content particularly child abuse images by means of an internet hotline to report incidences of potentially illegal content on websites. Reports are passed on to the relevant authorities for action. Since 1996 the amount of potentially illegal content hosted in the UK has declined from 18 per cent. to less than 1 per cent. The work of the IWF is an example of responsible self-regulation by the UK internet industry.