110,000 sign petition calling on internet companies to block access to porn

A PETITION signed by more than 110,000 people demanding internet companies block access to hardcore pornography as a default setting is to be handed to the UK government today.

• Petition aimed at protecting children from potentially harmful sites

Organiser Premier Christian Media (PCM) said peers, MPs and church figures are among those who have signed the Safetynet petition demanding internet service providers (ISPs) be made to compulsorily block access to pornography on computers, mobile phones and tablets.

The petition, written as a letter to Jeremy Hunt, the previous Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, claims one in three 10-year-olds has “stumbled upon pornography online” and that youths aged 12 to 17 are the largest consumers of internet porn.

It will be handed in to 10 Downing Street on Thursday by Safetynet representatives and a cross-party group of MPs, organisers said, with a second copy being sent to the Department for Education (DfE).

Peter Kerridge, the chief executive of PCM, said: “This simple measure would in no way restrict adults from accessing such websites by specific application but would help to protect generations of young people from online pornographers.

“We are now looking to this Government to take decisive action to halt this blatant and relentless assault on young and impressionable minds. We demand that they lock this ever-open door to pornography and depravity once and for all.”

In June the Government launched a 10-week consultation asking parents and businesses for their views on the best way to shield children from internet pornography.

The study is also looking at measures to protect children from other potentially harmful sites such as those which promote suicide, anorexia, gambling, self-harm and violence.

Views on preventing online sexual grooming and cyber-bullying are also being sought, the DfE said when it was launched.