When we launched our Put Porn in its Place campaign earlier this year, our aim wasn’t to ban pornography, but to restrict its ever-increasing presence. We wrote to the main internet service providers and the Prime Minister but heard nothing back.
That’s why we are delighted that MP and Psychologies reader, Claire Perry, raised this exact topic in a House of Commons debate on Tuesday night.
Our survey of 14- to 16-year-olds found that one third had looked at sexual images online when they were aged 10 or younger and 81 per cent looked at online porn while they were at home. From our round table discussions with members of children’s charities, pornography providers, journalists and therapists, it was clear that ISPs were key to controlling young people’s ability to easily, and without payment, view extreme pornography on the internet.
Perry’s aim is to get ISPs to create an ‘opt-in’ system based on age verification to prevent children gaining access to pornography. In the debate, she explained how a search for ‘American girls’ — a series of wholesome dolls — ends up at the American Girls website, ‘which is certainly not a wholesome place to be. It is truly shocking how easy it is to access that kind of information,’ she said.
‘For years I have felt that parents are losing the battle with online technology with the result that more and more children are being exposed to completely inappropriate material on the internet. I have followed some of the campaigns to change this situation, including the excellent work done by Psychologies and I was determined that, if I became an MP I would do my bit to help,’ she said.
‘That is why I led the debate this week in the House of Commons. We already successfully regulate British TV channels, cinema screens, high street hoardings and newsagent shelves to stop children seeing inappropriate images and mobile phone companies are able to restrict access to adult material so why should the internet be any different? ISPs should share the responsibility to keep our children safe.’
In response to Perry’s proposals, Ed Vaizey, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, said the current government’s position is that the internet should be lightly regulated. He said one school of thought believes ISPs are simply there to channel content to homes, and should not interfere with what goes down their pipes, just as the Royal Mail would not open parcels. ‘I believe that we should not over-regulate the internet, and that self-regulation should be the first stop…However, I think it should be put on the record that ISPs can play a role.’
During our campaign, we were contacted by a smaller ISP, called Zen Internet. They said contrary to popular belief, the opt-in system is possible. Our editor, Louise Chunn, would like to see this system put in place sooner rather than later. ‘It is received wisdom that the internet should be free, unvetted and that it works by everybody having access to everything,’ she says. ‘From our round table debates it did seem that opting in is a workable concept. The great thing about this debate is that it will get people talking about it again.’
You can show your support for the Put Porn in its Place campaign by emailing porncampaign@psychologies.co.uk
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