IWF finalist in 2013 ISPA Awards

We are extremely pleased to announce the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is a finalist in the 2013 ISPA Awards, nominated in the Internet Security and Safety category.

The IWF has been shortlisted for its work in combating online child sexualabuse images and videos.

Susie Hargreaves, IWF Chief Executive, said: “We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award. Tohave our work recognised in this way falls in line with our values of workingwith integrity and striving for excellence. Credit must be given to all thestaff and companies that fund our work.”

ISPA Secretary General Nick Lansman said: “Congratulations to all those shortlisted for the 15th ISPAs. The two new categories again demonstrate the innovation of our industry and the diversity of the internet sector in the UK. The ISPA Awards are now 15 years old and it’s still great to be able to celebrate successful British businesses. To be nominated is a big achievement, with rigorous technical testing and written entry forms analysed by expert judges or votes from customers. I look forward to the ceremony and best of luck to all entrants.”

The IWF recently announced that 100,000 child sexual abuse webpages have been actioned thanks to the work of the IWF and in the past two years 12 children have been rescued from their abusers as a direct result of IWF actions.

The IWF was formed in 1996 with the aim of eliminating online child sexual abuse content. In 1996, before the IWF was established, the UK hosted around 18% of the known child sexual abuse content. Since 2003, the IWF, working with the online industry, has reduced this to less than 1%.

The IWF is the UK Hotline for anyone to report this content. IWF Analysts assess each report made to the Hotline against UK law. If a webpage contains child sexual abuse content, it is traced to determine the country hosting the content. If it’s hosted in the UK,the IWF issues a notice to the hosting provider who then removes the content,typically within one hour. If it’s hosted abroad, the details are sent to the corresponding Hotline in the host country, via INHOPE (the Association of Internet Hotlines). If no such Hotline exists in that country, the IWF works with the relevant police service in order to get the content removed.

Whilst steps to have that content removed are in progress, the UK internet industry has voluntarily agreed to block access to them using a list provided by the IWF. We consider blocking to be a short-term disruption tactic which can help protect internet users from stumbling across these images, whilst processes to have them removed are instigated.

The 2013 ISPA Awards are the internet industry awards and this will be the 15th ISPA Awards. The awards ceremony will be on 11th July 2013 in the Park Lane Sheraton hotel in London and full information about the awards can be found at www.ispaawards.org.uk.

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For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Emma Lowther, Director of Communications on +44 (0) 1223 20 30 30 or +44 (0)7929 55 36 79 or [email protected]

About the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
The IWF was established in 1996 by the internet industry to provide the UK internet Hotline for the public and IT professionals to report criminal online content in a secure and confidential way. The Hotline service can be used anonymously to report content within our remit:

    child sexual abuse images hosted anywhere in the world;
    criminally obscene adult content hosted in the UK;
    non-photographic child sexual abuse images hosted in the UK.

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The IWF is a self-regulatory body with charitable status. It is part of the UK Safer Internet Centre.

UK Safer Internet Centre
The UK Safer Internet Centre comprises Childnet International which works with others to “help make the internet a great and safe place for children”; South West Grid for Learning which provides safety advice for professionals working with young people in the UK and the IWF Hotline for reporting online criminal content. For more information visit www.saferinternet.org.uk

About ISPA

The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK) is the UK’s Trade Association for providers of Internet services.

ISPA brings together the UK internet industry to provide essential support through innovation, knowledge and experience in order to benefit the UK economy and society. Promoting collaboration and constructive dialogue between its members and the wider internet community, ISPA is an all-important driving force for the industry and relevant stakeholders. For a list of members or other information about ISPA, please consult the website: www.ispa.org.uk or see the Twitterpage @ISPAUK.