Internet Watch Foundation

After a review of the IWF Hotline practices, the IWF will now acknowledge and assess all incoming reports within 24 hours of receipt excluding weekends and public holidays unless exceptionable circumstances prevail.

 

Previously the turn round times were divided into four priority groups with the turn round times ranging from one working day to ten working days.

 

Over the last five years a number of significant improvements have been made to the report management system and these have greatly improved Hotline efficiency. These improvements have included an online reporting system which inputs directly to the report management system and a built-in search facility which identifies reports which have been previously actioned. The IWF has commissioned the development of a new Report Management System and this will further improve Hotline efficiency.

 

Further reasons for the improvement in Hotline efficiency include the hugely successful implementation of newsgroup policies. This has had a significant impact on preserving hotline resources as it is no longer necessary to issue individual notices for individual images that were otherwise identified within the ‘regularity’ ‘names’ or advocacy newsgroups.

 

Additionally the specific advice on spam reports updated and published on the reporting page has helped to reduce duplicity, resulting in less time spent dealing with previously actioned reports.

 

Also the comprehensive FAQ section on the website has significantly reduced the number of non remit reports that we frequently receive from the members of the public. An automated response service provided to all reporters to the hotline has removed the necessity to commit analysts resources to a personal reply to every reporter.

 

Finally, it is important to note that the IWF could not undertake to meet these turn round times without the dedication and professionalism of its Internet Content Analysts.

 

Peter Robbins, CEO, IWF said: “We believe that this new policy demonstrates the ongoing improvement in IWF services that will continue to foster the trust and confidence in the Internet amongst current and future fixed and mobile internet users”.