Internet Watch Foundation

 

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures have been taken since 1997 to prevent the distribution of child pornography. 

 

Mr. Hilary Benn: The Government is determined to tackle child pornography whether on or off line and the criminal law applies equally to both.

 

In January 2001 we raised the maximum penalties for taking, making, distributing or showing indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children to 10 years imprisonment (from three years), and the maximum penalty for simple possession of such material to five years (from six months). Also in 2001 we made the importation of indecent or obscene material a serious arrestable offence to allow Customs and Excise officers and the police greater powers in investigating child pornography offences.

 

In response to concerns about the availability of child pornography on the Internet, a hotline for reporting this and other potentially illegal material was established by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) an industry funded organisation, in December 1996. Since its inception over 40,000 items of child pornography have been removed by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in response to the notice and take down procedure. The IWF also sends details to the police, or, since the majority of child pornography originates outside the United Kingdom, to the enforcement agency of the country concerned, via the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS). In February 2002, the IWF extended its policy, recommending to ISPs that they do not carry newsgroups which have been identified as regularly hosting child pornography or those with names that appear to advertise child pornography.

 

In November 2000, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, announced a £25 million investment in the police over three years specifically to fight hi-tech crime and to enhance the capability of the police at a national and local level to investigate computer related offences, including the possession and distribution of illegal pornography. This included the setting up last year of a National High Tech Crime Unit within the National Crime Squad as a centre of excellence, which has already mounted a number of investigations in this area, as well as providing support to investigations let by other forces.

 

Source: Hansard