TelecityGroup joins the Internet Watch Foundation

TelecityGroup, the leading premium provider of highly connected data centres in Europe, has become a member of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).

The IWF was founded in 1996 by people working within the internet industry to provide a reporting service to facilitate the removal of potentially illegal online content – including child sexual abuse, criminally obscene and incitement to racial hatred - from the internet. It works in partnership with the police, government, industry and public to combat illegal content and influence initiatives developed to combat online abuse; this dialogue goes beyond the UK and Europe to ensure greater awareness of global issues, trends and responsibilities. As a result, since 2003, less than 1% of online child sexual abuse content has been hosted in the UK, down from 18% in 1997.

Geoff Donson, Group Security Manager at TelecityGroup, states: “TelecityGroup feels very strongly that the industry must work together to provide a hostile environment for illegal online content. The work undertaken by the IWF is extremely valuable, and the Code of Practice and reporting system offers a good support network for the industry and users. We are pleased to be offering our support.”

The IWF provides a ‘Hotline’ reporting system which helps the online industry combat abuse of its services. A ‘notice and take-down’ initiative alerts organisations to potentially illegal content hosted on their systems or sites; the police are then made aware so they can investigate those responsible for the content. This partnership approach is increasingly recognised internationally, and the IWF’s expertise and experience is shared with a global audience to raise awareness of the issues of illegal online content.

Peter Robbins OBE, QPM, Chief Executive, IWF, comments: “We are delighted to welcome TelecityGroup to IWF membership. As the public, political and international profile of the IWF increases, we are committed to widening our partnership with the online sector in a united fight against child sexual abuse content. This successful self-regulatory approach enables the UK to lead the way in demonstrating an inclusive, dynamic and voluntary approach to safer internet in the UK.”

IWF Awareness Day takes place on 24th October 2008. For more information please visit: http://www.iwf.org.uk 

For further press information, photography, or to request an interview, please contact:
Dan Warren or Louisa Benckendorff
Nelson Bostock Communications +44 (0)20 7229 4400
Dan.warren / louisa.benckendorff@nelsonbostock.com

About the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)

The IWF is the only recognised organisation in the UK operating an internet ‘Hotline’ for the public and IT professionals to report their inadvertent exposure to potentially illegal content online. Our aim is to minimise the availability of potentially illegal content, specifically: child sexual abuse images hosted anywhere in the world; criminally obscene content hosted in the UK; incitement to racial hatred content hosted in the UK.

We are a self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry. This includes internet service providers (ISPs) mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers, telecommunications and filtering companies, search providers and the financial sector as well as blue-chip and other organisations who support us for corporate social responsibility reasons.
Through the ‘Hotline’ reporting system, we help ISPs to combat abuse of their services through a ‘notice and take-down’ service by alerting them to any potentially illegal content within our remit on their systems and simultaneously inviting the police to investigate the publisher.

As a result, less than 1% of potentially illegal content has apparently been hosted in the UK since 2003, down from 18% in 1997.

Please note that "child pornography", "child porn" or "kiddie porn" are not acceptable terms. The use of such language acts to legitimise images which are not pornography, rather, they are permanent records of children being sexually abused and as such should be referred to as child sexual abuse images.

For more information visit www.iwf.org.uk 

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