Fiona Bruce MP welcomes the Government’s Action on Internet Safety.
At a meeting this month the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the Rt Hon Maria Miller MP thanked MPs who have pressed for greater online protection for children - Fiona Bruce MP was a Member of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Child Protection.
What the Government is now doing:
· Online filters are now pre-ticked to prevent adult content featuring on them and have to proactively be changed by the user if they want such material.
· The policing and criminal justice system has increased how effective it is in responding to cases and now has the largest child abuse image database in the world.
· E-Safety is a new education initiative that is being launched in 2014 to give guidance to children aged 5-16 about using the internet safely.
· The Education Act 2011 allows teachers the authority to delete inappropriate images on student’s phones.
Fiona said:
“I am very pleased at the plans that have been made on this extremely serious issue. They are a step forward to protecting our Children from unsuitable material online. I am encouraged to hear that the newly formed National Crime Agency will be appointed to tackle child abuse on and offline. A new education initiative E-Safety is happening for all children aged between five and sixteen and this will be implemented next year to help inform children on being safe online. It is vital that there has been cross-departmental work from the Government within media, education and law enforcement to protect and increase awareness for children and to prosecute where illegal and damaging activity has occurred. I hope that we will not stop here but continue to strengthen security online for the protection of the next generation. Children have the opportunity to have a childhood”.
Further Action:
In September 2012 Fiona Bruce MP and a number of other MPs handed a Petition calling for Government action to improve online protection for children with over 115,000 signatories sent to Number 10 Downing Street. The Government has now taken action and has worked alongside the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide appropriate online Child Protection. The ISP now has domestic filtering in place as well as filtering over 90% of public WIFI facilities. Mobile phones also have closed access.
The Secretary of State was proud to announce that Britain is leading the way on Internet Safety. The importance to work alongside the industry was highlighted due to the constant development of internet sites.
Fiona Bruce MP said “it is encouraging to see that the issue of Child Protection is being tackled in a joined up way across many Departments including Policing, Criminal Justice and Education”.
