Porn websites ordered to block under age browsers or face being shutdown
The government has launched a fresh clampdown on the internet pornography industry by handing an ultimatum to websites to stop allowing children access or face being shutdown.
Campaigners have voiced concern at the ease with which children can access X-rated material on free to view porn websites, none of which has effective safeguards in place to prevent under 18s from viewing.
The loophole means explicit content is feely available to anyone with an internet connection with the ten most popular adult sites in the UK now accounting for half of all web traffic.
Prime minister David Cameron threatened to introduce new laws enforcing age restrictions but is keen to find a way of working consensually with the porn industry rather than oppose new rules.
In a statement Downing Street confirmed that porn purveyors would “be given an opportunity to develop proposals to block content through payment providers and other means”, but warned it would take matters into its own hands if the industry failed to act.
Some have dismissed the crackdown as mere bluster however, pointing out that many websites are located abroad out of the reach of British authorities.
Porn use is believed to be widespread amongst children with ChildLine reporting that one in ten 12 to 13 year-olds believed they were addicted to such content.