Ireland’s internet service providers have hit out at proposals that the Government should force them to introduce widespread automatic filters to block access by children to pornography.

IRISH Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide infrastructure that allows users to access the unimaginably vast and diverse content that companies and people anywhere in the world choose to make available on the internet.

Child pornography peddlers are exploiting internet technologies to host their imagery on Irish servers, with record numbers of such cases last year.

Campaigners against child abuse material available online are calling on the Department of Justice to bring in a range of measures, including laws to combat internet access to images of children of a sexual nature.

THE first case of child pornography being hosted on an Irish website came to light last year after eastern European criminals hijacked the site.

The vast majority of illegal websites reported to an Irish internet watchdog last year no longer exist or had the criminal content wiped, it emerged today.

IRELAND will link into an EU-wide network designed to tackle child pornography on the internet and other cyber crime.

AN IRISH internet watchdog received more than 2,500 reports of suspected child porn last year, it was revealed yesterday.

An Irish internet watchdog received more than 2,500 reports of suspected child porn last year, it was revealed today.

INTERNET service providers are virtually powerless to prevent cyber-bullying, with social networking sites fast becoming a popular vehicle for targeting vulnerable young people.

EFFORTS to tackle the problem of child pornography on the internet received a boost yesterday with the relaunch of a hotline developed by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland.

THE British Government is considering cutting internet access to people who download music and films illegally and it is likely if the move proves successful, similar measures may be introduced here.

PARENTS need to learn more about the internet to help ensure their children are using it safely, experts have warned.

MORE than 50 small communities have applied for an innovative new scheme in the hope of securing essential broadband access, it was announced yesterday.

INTERNET service providers have been warned they face State regulation after it emerged that many have ignored a voluntary code of practice covering access to illegal or harmful material, including child pornography.