Serious matter: Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said it was very important ISPs came up with a solution on how to protect children

Serious matter: Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said it was very important ISPs came up with a solution on how to protect children

The initiative comes following a successful trial by British ISPs to stop innocent people accessing child pornography websites.

Ministers now want companies to use the same technology to stop children accessing adult images. A survey earlier earlier this year said one in three ten-year-olds has viewed pornography.

Tory MP for Devizes Claire Perry, who has campaigned for restrictions said: ‘Unless we show leadership, the internet industry is not going to self-regulate. The minister has said he will get ISPs together and say “either you clean out your stables or we are going to do it for you”.

‘We are not coming at this from an anti-porn perspective. We just want to make sure children aren’t stumbling across things we don’t want them to see.’

Previously the providers had said implementing the scheme would cost too much and be technically difficult.

However some internet providers now seem happy to implement the scheme voluntarily.

Andrew Heaney, TalkTalk’s executive director of strategy and regulation, said: ‘Our objective was not to do what the politicians want us but to do what is right for our customers.’

‘If other companies aren’t going to do it of their own volition, then maybe they should be leant on.’

A Virgin Media spokesman said they had already implemented the technology on their mobile service, as they can leave the home, but said that parents can control what their children see at home and online.

And a BT spokesman said they had a ‘clean feed’ system to stop access to illegal sites.