An upgraded Digital Child Exploitation Filter will significantly reduce the amount of child sex abuse material available online, the Department of Internal Affairs says.
The number of illegal websites blocked in New Zealand will increase from 700 to nearly 30,000.
The department will add daily-updated lists from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK not-for-profit, into its filter of websites hosting child sexual abuse material, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said.
The IWF filter uses artificial intelligence and human analysis to identify web pages that host such illegal material. Legal adult content will not be blocked.
“This criminal material has no place in New Zealand. It is abhorrent. I am pleased that the department is taking steps to upgrade the filtering system to prevent more children from being harmed,” van Velden said. Continue reading