Internet Watch Foundation

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) was delighted to receive an award for raising industry standards at the 2008 Nominet Best Practice Challenge, at a ceremony in London on Wednesday 9 July 2008.

 

IWF won the award for its 'notice and take-down' of child sexual abuse content which has succeeded in virtually eradicating such websites from being hosted in the UK and for facilitating an industry-led initiative to protect users by blocking access to such content hosted on foreign networks. The judges praised the IWF for continuing to raise standards through collective action and dedicated partnership and for demonstrating what great results can be achieved through self-regulation.

 

Peter Robbins OBE, QPM, Chief Executive, Internet Watch Foundation said: “Our team is proud and delighted to have won this award as it recognises our partnership with industry and model of self-regulation are making such a difference in combating online child sexual abuse content in the UK.”  

 

Although it is very rare to identify child sexual abuse content hosted on UK networks, unfortunately it is still possible for internet users in the UK to be inadvertently exposed to such content hosted on foreign networks. The commitment by many IWF members with the capability to protect their customers to preventing the accidental download of such content has therefore been welcomed in many quarters. As a result, the percentage of residential broadband consumers in the UK protected by this initiative is believed to be as high as 95%. This has been achieved entirely through voluntary, responsible action by online service providers.

 

By blocking access to known child sexual abuse content it is possible to reduce the occasions when innocent internet users might be exposed to traumatic and unlawful images, diminish the re-victimisation of children by restricting opportunities to view their sexual abuse and disrupt the accessibility and supply of such content to those who may seek out such images.

 

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The IWF is the only recognised organisation in the UK operating an internet ‘Hotline’ for the public and IT professionals to report their inadvertent exposure to potentially illegal content online.

 

Our aim is to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content, specifically:

We work in partnership with UK Government departments such as the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to influence initiatives and programmes developed to combat online abuse. This dialogue goes beyond the UK and Europe, to ensure greater awareness of global issues and responsibilities.

 

We are a self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry. This includes internet service providers (ISPs), mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers, telecommunications and filtering companies, search providers and the financial sector as well as blue-chip and other organisations who support us for corporate social responsibility reasons.

  

Through the 'Hotline' reporting system, we help ISPs to combat abuse of their services through a ‘notice and take-down’ service by alerting them to any potentially illegal content within our remit on their systems and simultaneously inviting the police to investigate the publisher.

 

As a result, less than 1% of potentially illegal content has apparently been hosted in the UK since 2003, down from 18% in 1997.

 

In partnership with many organisations we strive to create continued awareness of the role and purpose of the IWF and aim to foster trust and reassurance in the internet for current and future users.

 

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 237 700

Email: media@iwf.org.uk

 

Nominet UK is the national registry for all Internet domain names ending in .uk.  Its purpose is the careful and impartial management of this central database, providing stability, security and accessibility for all users of .uk domain names. Nominet is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. It has members not shareholders, pays no dividends and its charges only cover its running costs. Anyone with an interest in the Internet may become a member. Nominet has over 2,800 members representing all areas of the Internet industry and is recognised as the .uk domain name registry by the Internet industry and the UK Government. It is not a governing or regulatory body, but provides a public service for the .uk namespace on behalf of the UK Internet community.

 

The Best Practice Challenge is an annual UK competition organised by Nominet that recognises organisations, groups or individuals who have embraced the challenge of delivering a safer, more accessible or diverse Internet experience.

 

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was established by the United Nations to accommodate comprehensive multi-stakeholder policy dialogue in the field of Internet governance. It aims to bring together all stakeholders in the Internet governance debate each year, whether they represent states, the private sector or civil society, on an equal basis and through an open and inclusive process.