Category Archives: Child abuse images

No room for complacency

Posted on February 20, 2020 by

My last blog was fairly upbeat about the UK Government’s interim response to the consultation on Online Harms. True the response was light on concrete proposals but much of the language was excellent. The overall tone was tough and purposeful. … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Child abuse images, Default settings, E-commerce, Internet governance, Regulation, Self-regulation, Uncategorized

Facebook urged to rethink its plans for encryption

Posted on February 6, 2020 by

Today children’s organizations from over 100 hundred countries around the world publish a letter urging Facebook to rethink its plans on encryption. So far the story has been picked up and reported by the BBC, the Financial Times and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Default settings, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation

Yesterday in Parliament – news and no news about porn

Posted on January 10, 2020 by

Yesterday was the final day of debate on the “Gracious Address” in the House of Lords. The Address had been delivered by Her Majesty on 19th December to mark the opening of a new Parliamentary year and a new Parliament … Continue reading →

Posted in Age verification, Child abuse images, Default settings, Internet governance, Pornography, Regulation, Self-regulation

Is the cure worse than the disease?

Posted on December 23, 2019 by

In a blog which focuses on the meaning of “privacy” in the modern world, Privacy International published an excellent summary of key international instruments which address the subject. At the end they announce their conclusion Privacy is a qualified, fundamental … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple, Child abuse images, Default settings, E-commerce, Internet governance, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation

A big “thank you” to Facebook

Posted on December 19, 2019 by

The essence of Facebook’s argument for changing Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct Messaging from unencrypted to encrypted environments is that “all the other major messaging Apps are already encrypted or are going to be so if we don’t do this … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation

More evidence about the dangers to children posed by encryption

Posted on December 6, 2019 by

Earlier this week the NSPCC published the results of a series of Freedom of Information requests it made to the police in England and Wales (so not the whole of the UK). They  asked the police how many cases they … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Privacy, Regulation, Self-regulation

Let there be light

Posted on November 24, 2019 by

In September the New York Times produced the first in a series of articles in which they focused on the internet industry’s response to the explosive growth in the detection of online child sex abuse material (csam). They started with … Continue reading →

Posted in Child abuse images, Internet governance, Regulation, Self-regulation