Firms must do more to stop child porn online

The Internet Watch Foundation says policies and understanding of the law must improve

Many enterprises could still be falling foul of the law by failing to ensure their employees do not view illegal content over the internet at work, according to child porn watchdog the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).

At the IWF’s launch event in London, the organisation’s chief executive, Peter Robbins, told IT Week that although IT managers are now more aware of the issue, according to a recent IWF survey, many are still ignorant about what they and their firms can do to enforce acceptable use policies, and where they stand if employees find illegal images while surfing the web at work.

“I don’t think people in business environments understand that many [of their employees] have unrestricted access to the internet, and many firm still don’t have acceptable usage policies [AUPs],” he said. “If such policies are not in place and [illegal content is found] then IT professionals often panic and tell staff to delete it, but the law says they should be copying it to a server and reporting it to the police – they don’t need to worry.”

The comments came as the IWF launched its annual report, which said the proportion of global child pornography hosted in the UK had dropped to just 0.4 percent.

Minister for Industry and the Regions Alun Michael praised the work the IWF has already done in working with mobile phone operators to create a code of practice for 3G services to prevent the spread of illegal content via mobile devices. He also urged the IWF to raise its profile to attract more members and resources.