BP joins fight against illegal content online
BP, the world’s second largest oil and gas company, has joined the Internet Watch Foundation as an Associate Member, helping to maintain the diverse IWF membership base and protect their own services from illegal online abuse.
BP became interested in joining the IWF because of the potential to liaise with our hotline regarding any instances where they suspect potentially illegal content to be on their networks.
Many IWF members are companies which create and provide many of the UK’s internet services including ISPs, mobile operators & software providers. These organisations recognise the need for a pro-active attitude and tangible, realistic mechanisms in order to effectively combat illegal content.
The IWF helps to facilitate these mechanisms and in doing so, assists the protection of public internet consumers as well as online businesses and facilities.
"BP has clear goals for ethical conduct and social responsibility in its operations across the world. We believe we should also 'make a difference', and we are pleased to support the Internet Watch Foundation to protect the most vulnerable internet users from criminal content," said Paul Dorey, BP’s Chief Information Security Officer.
Since the IWF was founded in 1996 with just 6 members, the message about zero tolerance of illegal content online has spread to a wide range of national and international organisations and agencies.
Peter Robbins, CEO, IWF:
“Gaining new members in the form of international organisations like BP enable us to maintain the provision of support and services to our member companies in order to protect their systems and ultimately, UK internet consumers, from potential exposure to illegal content online.
Having a pro-active Corporate Social Responsibility attitude towards these issues is essential and this is effectively illustrated by the diversity of organisations that support us.”
With the enormous range of internet services and technology available to disseminate online content, the need to have appropriate measures in place to deal with illegal material, such as indecent images of children, has become all too apparent.
In recent years, INHOPE, a global network of hotlines has been established to transfer alerts internationally about illegal child abuse content. The IWF was one of the founding members of INHOPE and continues to be actively engaged in their work and activities. INHOPE website
ABOUT BP
BP is one of the world’s largest oil, gas and energy companies. Its activities are exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas; refining, marketing, supply and transportation; and the manufacture and marketing of petrochemicals. It operates in 100 countries with well-established businesses in Europe, North and South America, Australasia and Africa.
Created: Mon, January 24th, 2005 | Last Modified: Fri, March 4th, 2005
