Government ministers aren’t going to force ISPs to automatically filter pornographic websites by default.

This was a proposal that was discussed by a committee of MPs earlier this year, whereby if folks wanted to look at adult sites, they’d have to contact their ISP and enable them. By default, they would be censored.

However, according to a report in the Independent, there was “little appetite” for such default filtering when the feedback had come back in from consultations with members of the public.

Apparently only 35 per cent of parents wanted the measure imposed.

Of course, if you want the parental control filter turned on at network-level, all you have to do is contact your ISP and request that.

The government will, however, be asking ISPs to “actively encourage” folks to switch on their net filter if they have kids.

Another reason why the measure has been pushed aside is the possibility that default filtering could give parents a false sense of security, as even ISP-level filtering isn’t going to block off all dodgy websites – and parents may think with this switch already flicked, their job is done.

TechWatch