Partner Article

Is there better way to protect Internet users

In the winter of 2013, David Cameron announced that he wanted to restrict access to adult-content websites, in a move designed to ensure the safety of children while they are using the internet, declaring that “in the darkest corners of the Internet, there are things going on that are a direct danger to our children, and that must be stamped out”. Although this sounds like a good idea, many people are questioning whether this move will have the effect that Cameron intends, and indeed whether it will really be effective at all against the problem of young people playing online games. Opponents also question whether the increasing censorship of adult sites should include gambling in addition to pornography and other adult content.

Restricting ISPs

After Cameron announced his plans to have ISPs restrict adult content, focus turned to the broadband companies who are already offering restrictions according to a Code of Practice. This is an agreement signed by four of the major internet providers, including Virgin Media, Sky Broadband, BT Internet and Talk Talk.

This Code of Practice was designed to offer an option which would block content from adult-themed websites. However, as recent evidence suggests, this Code has been particularly unsuccessful, in part because there are costs involved with either Parental Control software or network filtering, and those costs have been passed on to the customer almost without exception. As there is a clear failure of the self-regulation strategy, Cameron has started further consultations in an attempt to get to the bottom of the problem.

The result of this consultation is still unknown, but it may be that it will involve active choice ISP regulation, allowing customers to restrict access to certain websites if they have children. In January 2015, Sky became the first of the broadband providers to announce filters which would be applied within the next few weeks. Talk-Talk was close behind, but it seems like other providers, including Virgin Media and BT, are not offering default settings on their filters, and will instead be offering protocols which allow the filters to be turned on or off when required.

Using Filters to ban adult and gaming content

The companies have been opposed to these limits, stating: “It is really important that there is either a proper legal framework when it comes to blocking access…or that it is down to consumer choice.”

Even these minor steps towards David Cameron’s more ambitious aims have been met by opposition, and not only from those objecting to censorship. The Open Rights Group conducted research into filters in 2013, and discovered that large numbers of websites, including those of Essex and Sussex, where blocked for containing the word ‘sex’.

More than 50 charities had also been blocked by the filters, for a variety of reasons. Filters can also be evaded by typing spaces or lines between words, for example S-E-X would pass. At the moment, it seems as though the filters are both too sensitive, and not sensitive enough to discriminate the use of the word ‘sex’ when it is broken down.

Gambling websites are less likely to feel the hit of these filters than other sites, as both Sky and Virgin do not filter these sites. The owners of LuckyAdmiral, for example, as well as offering top-level security features and full licensing according to UK requirements, also try to ensure that their games are only used by adults: “Lucky Admiral supports responsible gaming. We do not allow persons under the age of 18 to play in our real-cash online casino. We verify age and store any personal data requested from members in a secure database”.

David Cameron made a stand when he announced the changes he intended to make to online adult-focused websites, but one which has not really amounted to much in the years that followed. With no coherent strategy to restrict website access, and with no rules or laws issued by Parliament, ISP providers have been left to try to provide solutions by themselves. Their differing approaches to online gambling highlight the inadequacy of current government thinking on adult-centric websites, and so far the only effect has been to slightly inconvenience gambling users on some ISP networks.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dani Dunn .