Thus plc, owner of ISP Demon Internet, yesterday announced that it
will take a more proactive role and will seek and remove paedophile
newsgroups from its servers. In doing so, it is taking a different
approach from its rivals. ISPs are not legally required and do not
monitor the content of their servers.21 Feb 2001
Thus says it continually removes articles containing paedophilic content from its servers and in January alone, 647 articles were removed by Thus from newsgroups following the discovery of illegal material.
Yesterday’s announcement means that not only will the articles be removed, but the known paedophile newsgroups will also be taken down.
ISPs are required to remove illegal material from their servers when they become aware that such material exists; but they are not required to actively monitor what material is posted to sites that they host.
Keith Monserrat, director of legal and regulation at Thus, said:
"While it is impossible for ISPs to stop all illegal content from being published on newsgroups, I believe that there is much that can be done to police what is currently out there; to protect the vulnerable and to increase our vigilance."