The Scottish Government’s Education Secretary has called for robust digital protections after children as young as ten in Edinburgh were able to access pornography on school iPads.
Jenny Gilruth MSP contacted local councils across Scotland to ensure that “safety protocols are regularly reviewed” to guarantee that the issue “is not replicated in other parts of the country”.
According to one parent, ten and eleven-year-olds in Edinburgh had been able to view explicit images such as “erotic hanging, strangulation and drowning … and theoretically unlimited porn” by misspelling blocked terms.
‘Wake up call’
Miles Briggs, the MSP for Lothian (Region), commented: “This incident is a wake up call for Edinburgh council and the Scottish Government to ensure that robust measures are put in place, so that this does not happen again.”
Councillor Joan Griffiths of Edinburgh’s Education, Children and Families Committee added: “Our priority is the safety of our learners and as soon as we were made aware that particular content could be accessed on iPads, we took immediate action to introduce enhanced safety.
“We have carried out a thorough investigation and have shared these findings with other local authorities.”
Age verification
The Government’s Online Safety Bill became law in 2023 and Ofcom is due to gradually implement the Act’s measures.
Although it has not recommended specific age-verification systems for pornographic websites or user-generated content, it could include those such as facial technology combined with credit card checks.
In contrast, the regulator has emphasised that “self-declaration of age”, “general terms, disclaimers or warnings” would fall foul of its requirements.
Age-verification checks were originally approved under the Digital Economy Act 2017, but plans to implement them were abandoned in 2019.
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