Sky to turn on porn filter by default for all new broadband customers from 2016

Sky Broadband will block porn or other adult content for all new customers from 2016. Currently new customers are asked whether they want to use Sky Broadband Shield, the DNS-based adult content filter, but soon it will be switched on by default when subscribers activate Sky broadband.

From 2016, when users activate Sky Broadband they will be informed that Sky Broadband Shield is on with the age filter set to 13 and no access to sites until 9pm. Customers can always amend the settings and turn it off if they want to by logging into MySky.

This move is to meet Prime Minister David Cameron's objective of making internet safer for children. He had also outlined a number of other goals that he wanted the internet providers to meet.

Launched in 2013, the Sky Broadband Shield was offered to all customers. In January the company mailed all customers who subscribed to Sky broadband before the launch of Sky Broadband Shield, explaining the benefits of the "Default On" feature, while giving an opportunity to customise the settings accordingly. If they received no response from the customers, the feature was automatically switched on. However, the customer had the option to amend the settings. The company claims that about 62% of its customers use parental control.

Explaining the reason behind making Sky Broadband Shield a standard practice for all customers, Lyssa McGowan, director of Communications Products at Sky said, "Earlier this year, we adopted a "Default On" approach with some of our customers which we found delivered much higher engagement and usage of Sky Broadband Shield."

McGowan further added: "Customers have really come to appreciate the value of Sky Broadband Shield in protecting their families from unwanted and potentially harmful internet content. What we have learnt is that as well as the flexibility to set the right level of protection for their homes, they also want us to make it as easy as possible for them."

"The simplest thing we can do to help them is to automatically turn on filtering and then allow customers to easily choose and change their settings. This means they can have complete peace of mind that they will protected online from the word go."