A crackdown on internet pornography will be launched by the government today with proposals to make it an offence to possess electronic images of extreme obscenity or violence.
Internet service providers are privately concerned that they could be saddled with a legal duty to "police the internet" under Home Office plans to plug a gap in the Obscene Publications Act and outlaw abusive or violent images.
Under the consultation, ministers are proposing to make possession of extreme pornographic electronic images the same as print photography, a distinction already eliminated in the case of child pornography. It is already an offence to use the internet to publish violent pornography, but most of the sites are hosted by foreign ISPs.
"This is material which is extremely offensive to the vast majority of people and it should have no place in our society," said Paul Goggins, Home Office minister. "The fact that it is available over the internet should in no way legitimise it." The Home Office said the British-based internet industry had "a strong track record in removing illegal material and it is no coincidence that virtually none of this material is hosted by UK ISPs".
Nevertheless, ISPs fear fresh legislation could re-open the question of whether they are merely "conduits" for electronic information or have a duty to monitor and censor the material they host. In respect of child pornography, British-based ISPs have worked closely with law en-forcement agencies to clamp down on illegal sites and are developing the technology to block illicit websites.
But their task is made easier by the fact that the Internet Watch Foundation, an independent body bringing together police and the in-dustry, monitors illegal child porn sites and earmarks them for closure. There is no similar body for other pornography, which means ISPs could be forced to decide themselves what constitutes extreme obscenity.
The Home Office acknowledged that a ban on possession of electronic images could pose a challenge to ISP. "Filtering the material we are addressing today will be more complex, as there is no equivalent of the IWF list, because there are more of these sites and because the sites will stay live in their host country. The technology to support filtering develops quickly and ISPs will want to consider the needs of their customers."
