Internet Watch Foundation

The 2008 IWF Board award for most significant contribution to combating illegal content on the internet has been awarded to Richard Swetenham, Head of the European Commission eContent and Safer Internet Unit.

 

The Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA UK) has been organising the UK Internet Industry Awards since 1999 to herald the best of the internet industry and to celebrate innovation and best practice. One of the Special ISPA Awards is the Internet Watch Foundation Award. The awards ceremony took place in London on Friday 14 March 2008.

 

Amanda Jordan OBE, IWF Board Chair, said: “This award recognises Richard’s long-standing commitment to safer internet across the EU, particularly his role as driving force behind the establishment of an international network of Hotlines combating online child sexual abuse content and many other successful EC Safer Internet Programmes. Many individuals and organisations, in the UK and beyond, are indebted to Richard for his dedication and vision.”

 

Winner Richard Swetenham said: “I am happy to accept this award which recognises the hard work of my colleagues in the European Commission since 1996 to help make children safer online. I would like to thank the European Parliament and the Council for their support for the Safer Internet programme. I would particularly like to stress the important role played by everyone who has taken part in the Safer Internet programme's networks and projects all over Europe“.

 

The eContent and Safer Internet Unit is part of the Content Directorate of the Information Society and Media Directorate-General of the European Commission. Its role is to support the development and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for the benefit of all citizens in the following ways:

Richard also produces QuickLinks, a weekly electronic newsletter on legal and regulatory issues related to the Information Society as well as developments in market and technology, together with a one-stop-shop resource on the status of EU initiatives.

 

The other finalists for the 2008 IWF ISPA Award were:

 

Brightfilter
For commitment to consumer e-safety by offering ISPs, free of charge, the opportunity to deploy the Brightfilter filtering solution to protect their customers from accidentally stumbling across indecent images of children.

 

Childnet International – Know IT All 
For producing a range of excellent multi-media interactive learning resources for children, parents and teachers aimed at enhancing the online experience of children.

 

Professor Sonia Livingstone and Dr Leslie Haddon - EU Kids Online project
For their work to develop a flexible policy framework and further the academic research agenda into how people, especially children, use new media to assist in the formulation of recommendations for child safety, media literacy and risk awareness.

 

Rt. Hon. Alun Michael MP
For his longstanding contribution extolling the virtues of good practice, at home and abroad, of a self-regulatory approach to combating criminal content on the internet.

 

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The ISPAs - the UK Internet industry awards - are awarded to people and organisations in the industry by their peers and reflect the broad nature of the service provider sector.

 

The Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA UK) has been organising the UK Internet Industry Awards since 1999 to herald the best of the Internet industry and to celebrate innovation and best practice. In 2002 the awards were dubbed ‘The ISPAs’.

Each year the event changes to reflect changes in the sector and to represent the ever broadening nature of the service provider sector.

 

The awards categories now fall into one of two divisions - the ISP and Special Awards.

Attended by senior decision makers, Government representatives and the media, The ISPAs are the premiere event for the industry.

Organisations and individuals requesting tickets or further information should in the first instance visit http://www.ispaawards.org.uk.

Organisations interested in sponsoring The ISPAs should telephone 020 7609 1907 or email pressoffice@ispa.org.uk.

 

 

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 internet content, specifically:

We work in partnership with UK Government departments such as the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to influence initiatives and programmes developed to combat online abuse. This dialogue goes beyond the UK and Europe, to ensure greater awareness of global issues and responsibilities.

 

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.

 

In partnership with many organisations we strive to create continued awareness of the role and purpose of the IWF and aim to foster trust and reassurance in the internet for current and future users.

 

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.

 

IWF is an incorporated charity, limited by guarantee.

Charity No. 1112398

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 237 700