UK ups anti-child abuse efforts

 

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Posted on 27 Oct 2008 at 15:57

Over three quarters (77 per cent) of UK adult internet users who have accidently stumbled across online images of children being sexually abused are unsure how to report them, the Internet Watch Foundation has warned.

In addition, the organisation found that such content is a major worry to surfers, with over 70 per cent of those surveyed ranking the availability of online child sexual abuse images as their top concern about the internet.

Given the serious nature of the problem IWF, partners, charities and government departments joined forces to publicise the IWF Hotline last week. Supporting activities included running IWF advertising across websites, emailing staff and customers and featuring IWF information on homepages and intranets in order to reach out to millions of UK internet users.

"The UK has a very proactive approach to tackling child sexual abuse content online but we could do even more with the public's help," said Peter Robbins, IWF chief executive.

"Internet consumers should know that if they do stumble across these images then it's vital to report them to the IWF; we have international partnerships in place to get these websites removed. The IWF members and supporters who are united in their efforts to try to eradicate these terrible images on the internet deserve all our thanks."

But it is not all bad news, according to IWF's recent poll, which found that 99 per cent of adult internet users in the UK agree that the internet is an "overwhelmingly positive resource". Half of UK internet users are aware the UK has been successful in combating online child sexual abuse content.

"This UK approach sees the IWF working in partnership with the online sector and the police and has led to the near eradication of child sexual abuse content hosted in the UK," read a statement from the organisation.

"Initiatives like the voluntary blocking in the UK of child sexual abuse websites by online companies are helping to reduce inadvertent access to content hosted abroad, indeed, 2007 saw a 10 per cent decrease in the number of websites confirmed by the IWF to depict child sexual abuse."

Author: Robert Jaques