Parents can act to keep porn out of our homes

DO you think hardcore pornography – including some of the vilest material imaginable − should be broadcast on every television in the country, 24 hours a day? Do you think your children should be allowed to switch on the TV in any room in any home and gain access to thousands of channels of porn, without having to subscribe or even to prove that they are adults?

If you do not, then you should let Pat Rabbitte know.

Of course, Mr Rabbitte is not proposing that RTÉ and TV3 start broadcasting pornography. But the Communications Minister is well aware that in every house that has an internet connection, sexual material can be viewed by anybody in that house who has a computer, tablet or smartphone.

In real terms, we might just as well be telling the networks to broadcast porn into our homes – because the internet service providers are already doing precisely that. Even though they could block access to pornography, requiring a verified adult authorisation before that access is unblocked, they do not do so.

For months now, this newspaper has been calling on Minister Rabbitte to do what his counterparts in the UK are doing: force the internet giants to block pornography from our homes. If paying adults want to access such material, they can choose to do so – just as they could subscribe to adult channels on the television. But it would make it far harder for young people – those who would be most damaged by pornography – to access it.

Now Minister Rabbitte is opening the matter to public consultation: and it is therefore vital that every parent who wants pornography filters as standard makes their voice heard. Doing so is simple: fill out the form online or write in.

If you care about this issue, now is your chance to force change.