Government tones down porn-blocking rhetoric

The Government has toned down its support for internet blocking and moved to distance itself from a leading anti-porn campaigner.

Last year, the Government threw its weight behind obligatory parental controls for ISPs as a wave of conservatism saw some MPs and campaigners call for a block on porn altogether.

In a confused announcement in October, the Government said it was targeting porn through improved parental controls in a move that was seen as a response to pressure from anti-porn campaigner and Conservative MP Claire Perry, and the Bailey Report that covered the sexualisation of children.

The "ban" was later revealed as little more than asking ISPs to offer new customers parental controls at the point of sale, although the Government had been supportive of tighter controls, such as TalkTalk's network-based filters.

Now it appears to be taking a softer line in response to criticisms that it was censoring the web, setting a bad example to restrictive regimes overseas.

The position of Claire Perry regarding the default filtering of adult content is not the position of this government

“We believe that parents should be provided with wide tools to enable them to voluntarily block harmful and inappropriate content,” said Foreign Secretary William Hague in response to an open letter from rights groups.

“It is important to distinguish between Government encouraging people to make more use of existing protections as a matter of choice, and the Government deciding what people can and cannot do online," he said in the statement released without fanfare during the Christmas shutdown.

“Our plans do not prevent access to legal material, but seek to make it much clearer that protections exist, and to encourage their use."

The Home Secretary also distanced the Government from MP Perry, who has been campaigning for a block on all porn, a stance that has raised concerns among internet freedom groups.

“The position of Claire Perry regarding the default filtering of adult content is not the position of this Government,” Hague said.