Today, four leading Internet Service Providers, TalkTalk, Sky, BT and Virgin Media announced that they will work together to make it easier for families to block access to internet porn. By October 2012 these companies will offer all new internet customers a service called Active Choice where subscribers must choose whether to restrict the web content that their computers can receive. All of the companies already offer this filtering technology but currently subscribers do not have to choose whether to install it. The group will also sponsor a media campaign to encourage existing customers to install the technology.

Commenting on the news, Waveney MP Peter Aldous who is a member of the cross-party Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Child Protection said:

“I welcome today’s announcement as it shows the British Internet industry are finally taking seriously the problem of children accessing adult content on the Internet. But, there are three very important questions for the ISPs to answer.

1. As 77 per cent of British households already have access to the internet, how will the companies roll out the product to existing clients?
2. TalkTalk is the only company that has a solution that to allow one-click protection for all internet-enabled devices in the home. When will the other companies introduce this facility?
3. The implementation timetable seems slow given that this is existing technology. Given that 83 per cent of people say that the easy availability of internet porn is damaging to children, shouldn’t this be rolled out more quickly?

The only way to fully protect our children is to introduce an Opt-In system but in the meantime, today’s announcement is a good first step”