Internet Watch Foundation

Tuesday, 18 July

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) was delighted to welcome Home Office Minister, Vernon Coaker MP, to their offices in Oakington, Cambridge on Tuesday, 18 July.

 

Vernon Coaker MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Policing, Security and Community Safety, had the opportunity to meet with IWF Chief Executive, Peter Robbins, and all other members of the IWF staff. He spoke to the Hotline Analysts whose unenviable job it is to assess the reported websites submitted by the public and listened to presentations about Hotline operations as well as taking part in discussions regarding the issues faced by the IWF in the future as well as on strategic, international and legislative levels.

 

 

The Minister said: ‘“The Internet Watch Foundation leads the way in combating online child abuse content hosted anywhere in the world as well as criminally obscene and incitement to racial hatred content hosted in the UK. It is crucial to raise awareness among UK internet users about the IWF as the vehicle to report their inadvertent exposure to this type of content.

 

I look forward to working closely with the IWF as they continue to tackle the demands of keeping pace with the rapidly evolving nature of the internet and those who set out to use it for criminal purposes.”

 

Sarah Robertson, Communications, IWF, said: “The IWF was delighted to welcome the Minister to our offices just outside Cambridge. IWF’s partnership with the Government, as well as with Police and the internet industry, is crucial if we are to continue our work making the UK one of the most hostile spaces in the world to host illegal online content.

 

The Minister conveyed his congratulations on the IWF staff’s important and effective work.”

 

The IWF is the only authorised organisation in the UK operating an internet ‘hotline’ for the public and IT professionals to report their exposure to potentially illegal content online.

 

Our aim is to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content, specifically:

 

We work in partnership with UK Government departments such as the Home Office and the Department of Trade and Industry to influence initiatives and programmes developed to combat online abuse. This dialogue goes beyond the UK and Europe, to ensure greater awareness of global issues and responsibilities.

 

We are funded by the EU and the UK internet industry including internet service providers (ISPs), mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers (CSPs) and telecommunications & software companies.

 

Through the hotline reporting system, we help ISPs to combat abuse of their services through a ‘notice and take-down’ service by alerting them to any potentially illegal content on their systems and simultaneously inviting the police to investigate the publisher.

 

As a result, only 0.4% of potentially illegal content is apparently hosted in the UK, down from 18% in 1997.

 

As the number of people using the internet and the diversity of content available continues to grow, the mechanisms for dealing with illegal content must be better known and understood.

 

In partnership with many organisations, we strive to create continued awareness of the role and purpose of the IWF and aim to foster trust and reassurance in the internet for current and future users.

 

Please note that the terms "child pornography" or "child porn" can act to legitimise images which are not pornography. Rather, they are permanent records of children being sexually abused and as such should be referred to as child abuse images.

 

For further information, contact Sarah Robertson, IWF Communications:

t: 01223 237 700
e: sarah@iwf.org.uk

m: 07929 553 679
w: www.iwf.org.uk

For details of 2006 parliamentary questions with relevance to the IWF answered by Vernon Coaker see: http://www.iwf.org.uk/government/page.156.htm

 

Home Office Press Office: t: 0207 0353535