London, Nov 17: British government may soon toughen up controls on internet pornography in a bid to keep it away from children’s reach.
According to the proposals, due to be announced by the government later this month, in future anyone buying a new computer or signing up with a new internet service provider will be asked whether they have children when they log on for the first time, Daily Mail reported Saturday.
The ones answering “yes” will automatically be taken through the process of installing anti-pornography filters and a series of questions asking how stringent they want restrictions to be, the report added.
It is hoped to allow parents in imposing timed access limits on lewd material, or preventing children from viewing social networking sites such as Facebook during certain hours of the day.
British ministers will also demand that internet service providers impose “appropriate measures” to ensure that those setting the parental controls are over 18.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected calls for an automatic block on porn, which adults would have to actively opt out of, after experts advised that parents needed to play an “active role” in installing filters so that they are fully informed about the technology.
The government plans to tell service providers that they must impose the new controls or face legislation.
