Press releases
Empower your advertisers and engage your users
07 September 2004
Keeping it legal: Support for UK internet hotline continues to grow
Mirago, the European provider of results for Internet search engines, has demonstrated a zero tolerance of illegal internet content by supporting the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and becoming a funding member.
The IWF provides the UK’s only authorised internet hotline, allowing the general public to report any instances of exposure to potentially illegal content online and works in partnership with many different companies and agencies to combat the availability of illegal material, such as indecent images of children.
During 2003, the IWF focused on building expertise in the area of search engine technologies in order to provide services to search engine companies to prevent potentially illegal content from being located through their facilities.
Delivering over 300 million pages of search results every month to end users via its growing network of search partners, Mirago, founded in 1999, has continued to expand and to develop its services throughout Europe. It provides a geographic focus for users looking to locate local and national facilities.
Leigh Tomlinson, Business Development Manager, Mirago, commented: “Mirago has always taken a strong stance against any illegal online activity and partnering with the Internet Watch Foundation is another step in preventing accidental exposure to this material for our users.”
When locating online material, certain words or combinations of words are often known only to individuals who have a predilection to indecent and abusive images of children.
However, some genuinely innocent words and phrases, when contextualised in a certain way, can be associated with illegal & offensive material online.
In order to help prevent the risk of accidental exposure, as well as minimising the availability of such images to those actively searching for them, the IWF created, and continues to develop, lists of ‘key words’ and ‘trends’.
These words are based on IWF reports and follow assessment by the specially trained internet hotline team. The lists include many specific terms and contextualized words which can be used to locate child abuse images online.
Peter Robbins, CEO, IWF: “Navigating the internet through search engines to access the extensive information available around the world, is now second nature for most internet consumers.
Taking a responsible attitude towards what these search facilities actually deliver is an essential ingredient in building trust and confidence amongst consumers.
Any positive measures search engine companies take to improve that experience is to be applauded.
If anyone in the UK is exposed to child abuse images through search services, then we will work in partnership with the search engine providers and endeavour to have that content removed.”
IWF member companies can use the lists to register contextualised key word searches and in some cases restrict access to illegal websites. This helps to safeguard their services, protect consumers and to minimise the availability of this type of illegal content. Viewing such material can carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison in the UK.
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