Tech Shout!

The government of Russia and US has been asked by a leading children’s charity, to work harder on the job of fighting online child pornography.

The latest stats from the UK’s Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reveal that 40 per cent of the online child abuse content it scrutinises is traced to the US, while 28 per cent of online images are tracked back to Russia. At the same time, the amount of child pornography hosted in the UK is just 0.4 per cent.

Supporters of the IWF - a partnership between ISPs, police and government - claim the group has proved to be successful in removing illegal material with its universal “notice and takedown service” ensuring that illegal content is removed swiftly.

John Carr, new technology adviser for kids’ charity NCH, thinks this proves that the IWF’s approach of removing child pornography is effective. However till the time similar measures are not adopted by other countries, the pedophiles will continue to prey.

Carr added, “The Governments of the USA and Russia need to up their game and stem the tide of child pornography leaving their virtual shores because it is putting children across the world at risk.”

“The public can feel confident in the IWF’s hard work over the last ten years combating these shocking crimes,” IWF head Amanda Jordan said. “The test will be to bring the same commitment and effectiveness to other countries, particularly Russia and the US where the majority of child abuse content appears to be hosted.”

Publishing its 2005 Annual Report, the IWF said it handled a record number of complaints from net users about potentially illegal material. Of the 23,600 reports of potentially illegal material, some 6,000 were passed onto law enforcement agencies. Less than one per cent of illegal material was hosted in the UK - down from 18 per cent ten years ago.