One of the country’s largest internet service providers is to ask all of its four million customers if they wish to block access to pornographic websites.
In March TalkTalk started asking new customers whether they wished to install a filter that blocks adult websites.
The company has now revealed that it is planning to make its existing 4.2 million customers choose whether or not to install the filter.
Pornography
The move has been welcomed by those seeking to protect children from internet porn.
However the system falls short of the sought-after ‘opt-in’ system which would automatically block all pornography unless access was formally requested.
TalkTalk’s filter, HomeSafe, blocks websites deemed unsuitable for under 18s including those relating to pornography, gambling and suicide.
Campaigning
Conservative MP Claire Perry, who is campaigning for an ‘opt-in’ system, has welcomed the move as a “massive step forwards”.
Dido Harding, TalkTalk’s chief executive, said: “Our competitors are being dreadfully slow to wake up to the fact that society as a whole cares strongly about this.”
Last month figures highlighted in a parliamentary inquiry led by Miss Perry revealed that almost one in three children aged just ten or under have seen sexual images online.
Pornography
The inquiry found that the “majority of children access the internet alone” and the average age when a child first uses the internet in the UK is eight years old.
Studies also noted in the inquiry’s report suggested four out of five children aged 14-16 access online pornography at home.