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TalkTalk apologises for blocking access to LGBT charity website by incorrectly labelling it as porn

Dec 19 2013
Written by Scott Roberts

TalkTalk has apologised for blocking access to the website of London Friend, one of the capital’s oldest LGBT charities, after the internet service provider incorrectly classified the site as “pornographic”.

On Thursday, London Friend Chief Executive Monty Moncrieff told PinkNews.co.uk: “London Friend was informed today that access to our website has been blocked by the internet service provider (ISP) TalkTalk when using their safe-search filters.

“For some reason it seems we’ve been classed as pornography! This was a concern we know many LGBT organisations had when the filter system was announced.”

In response, a TalkTalk spokesperson said to PinkNews.co.uk: “Over 400,000 families have already activated our HomeSafe parental controls and they tell us they value having a free tool that helps them stay safer online.

“We are pleased other providers are now introducing similar systems. Sadly there is no silver bullet when it comes to internet safety and we have always been clear that no solution can ever be 100 per cent. It requires all of us to play our part.

“We continue to develop HomeSafe and welcome feedback to help us continually improve the service. We apologise for these instances of incorrect categorisation.

“This is why we have established really clear reporting mechanisms so that this can be addressed. We are working with our filtering partner to ensure we learn from these cases and continue to develop the service to reduce the risk of this happening.”

In August, several LGBT charities called on the government to reconsider supporting mandatory default web blocking for ISPs as it could restrict legitimate access to non-pornographic LGBT websites – such as London Friend.

Several ISPs, including TalkTalk, Sky and Virgin, introduced web filters this year ahead of David Cameron’s endorsement of the proposal.

But according to a BBC Newsnight investigation, as well as blocking access to several non-pornographic websites, on multiple occasions the filters have allowed access to pornographic websites – thus failing in their primary aim.