Alun Cairns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alun Cairns on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies on voluntary restrictions by network providers of adult content of recent proposals from the European Parliament on a European single market for electronic communications.

Mr Edward Vaizey

We are aware that there some concerns that the European Parliament’s amendments to the draft Connected Continent regulation may restrict ISPs ability to block illegal content or to filter adult content at the request of customers. The UK Government supports the aims of the Connect Continent package, but let me clear that we will not agree to any proposals that restrict the ability of parents to protect their children from inappropriate content on line. We are confident that this was not the intention of the European Parliament and we are working with EU Member States, the European Commission and the European Parliament to deliver a final package that promotes an open, safe and secure internet.