ISPA supports the Culture, Media & Sport’s Committee’s conclusion that online safety is a joint responsibility. ISPA has played a significant role in this debate, with Secretary General Nicholas Lansman giving evidence to the committee last year.
Illegal content
ISPA is proud of the role the internet industry has played in tackling illegal content, and over the last year, support for the Internet Watch Foundation has grown massively to the extent the IWF model has been exported around the world. Industry is also working on solutions to tackle illegal content on the ‘dark web’. We are also pleased the committee’s supported our call for Government to properly resource CEOP and the bodies charged with tackling illegal content.
Filtering/parental controls
The vast majority of consumers in the UK now have access to whole-home solutions, with all the largest ISPs investing heavily to offering free parental controls to all their customers, a successful example of self-regulation. We support the committee’s conclusion that filtering and technology cannot fix this issue alone, with education and parental mediation essential. However we disagree with the recommendation that every ISP should offer this, as many ISPs are business focused and many filters do not scale down well.
Social Media
Social media providers have made great strides in their reporting and ways of dealing with harmful behaviour, and the calls for further regulation and law is not sufficiently reactive for people using the internet today.
Welcoming the report, Lansman said “we’re pleased the CMS Committee agrees that government needs to properly resource CEOP and that filtering adult content needs a more nuanced approach than just filtering. This report is a useful addition to the online safety debate in the UK I look forward to seeing Government’s response.”