The Prime Minister has announced a pledge to promote "good, clean, WiFi" in public spaces, following a campaign by a number of children's charities to block sites with adult content in public areas with WiFi internet access.
Speaking during a local elections campaign visit yesterday, David Cameron told the Telegraph he wanted people to "have confidence in public WiFi systems so that they are not going to see things they shouldn't".
The comments have been welcomed by the Children's Charities Coalition on Internet Safety, which includes the NSPCC, Barnardo's and the Children's Society, saying any deal was "long overdue". The group's secretary John Carr said: "Public access to the internet is a modern reality and we have to find a way of dealing with this growing problem."
The Prime Minister's pledge follows a 2012 cross-party parliamentary inquiry into how safe children are online, which concluded that the government and internet service providers needed to do more to protect children from online pornography. The inquiry has resulted in discussions between government officials and WiFi providers about filtering adult content by default on the services that are provided directly to the public. A Downing Street spokesman said the discussions are "ongoing", with no decision having been taken about new rules or a code of conduct.
Campaigners are concerned that parental restrictions in the home mean that children are more likely to access inappropriate material outside the home on smartphones, tablets and laptops. 10.6 million people log on to WiFi in public venues every week, according to The Cloud, the UK's largest high street WiFi provider.
Last year's parliamentary inquiry was led by Conservative MP Claire Perry, who said that the biggest providers of public WiFi networks, such as Virgin and BT, have already agreed to offer the option of a block on adult material in public places, adding that many of the larger retailers such as Starbucks and Mcdonalds, have taken up the option. Some hotels have also decided to put adult content behind paywalls. Ms Perry said she hopes that the block would become universal by the end of the year.
