New Zealand government upgrades digital child exploitation filtering system

The New Zealand government is upgrading its digital child exploitation filtering system for blocking websites that host child sexual abuse images.

Set up in 2010 by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), the system is voluntary for Internet service providers (ISP), and most of the ISPs use it to block access to illegal websites.

In May this year, the government announced the replacement of the current software and the Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin introduced a bill updating the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. The updated bill allows the DIA to bring the child exploitation filter into law, and extend it to filtering content deemed objectionable by the Chief Censor’s office.