U.K. Porn Filters Censor 20% of Websites, Study Says

LONDON — The parental filters of U.K. ISPs are blocking 20 percent of the 100,000 most-visited websites on broadband and mobile phone, according to the Open Rights Group.

Even XBIZ.com apparently is being blocked by six U.K. ISPs, as seen by a new tool released by the group. So is SFW sister site XBIZNewswire.com.

The Open Rights Group embedded tool runs checks on all the major broadband and mobile filters of U.K. ISPs — 3, Andrews & Arnold, BT, Everything Everywhere, O2, Plusnet, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Vodafone — and allows users to query which sites are blocked.

U.K. ISPs have automatically been imposing filters on new customers since the beginning of the year unless specifically asked not to do so. Existing customers are next in the new policy under Prime Minister David Cameron.

Open Rights Group officials said that the ISPs, in many cases, are blocking sites that are not harmful to children. 

"Sometimes, they are blocked by mistake," the group said. Sometimes, they are blocked deliberately. For example, many blogs and forums are blocked by default."

The group, which released its findings today, said that the problem of over-blocking is not going away

"Different ISPs are blocking different sites and the result is that many people, from businesses to bloggers, are being affected because people can’t access their websites," the group said. "We've found that there is a lack of information about how to get sites unblocked."  

Open Rights Group officials said they've created a page devoted to personal stories about blockage and welcome comments.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

MojoHost to Launch New Servers for Clients

MojoHost has announced that they will launch new GPU servers for their clients.

Maximilian Peldszus Joins Fanblast

Former BestFans CEO Maximilian Peldszus has joined creator software company Fanblast.

Kiiroo Joins Pineapple Support as Supporter-Level Sponsor

Kiiroo has joined the ranks of over 60 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support.

Eurorgazm Joins ASACP as In-Kind Media Sponsor

Eurorgazm Magazine has signed on as the latest In-Kind Media Sponsor for Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP).

Sex Work CEO Debuts Upgraded 'GPTease' AI Assistant

Sex Work CEO has introduced the Power Tier upgrade to its AI-powered, NSFW text generator, GPTease.

Abella Danger to Host 2025 XMA Creator Awards

the 2025 XMA Creator Awards, presented by premier creator platform Fansly.

Joi AI Joins Pineapple Support as Partner-Level Sponsor

Joi AI (formerly Eva AI) has joined the ranks of over 60 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support.

German Court Upholds Ban on PornHub, YouPorn

Germany’s Berlin Administrative Court has upheld a “network ban” on adult sites Pornhub and YouPorn for failing to comply with that country’s age verification regulations.

OurDream.ai Debuts New Porn Generator

OurDream.ai, an AI porn-generating platform, has launched an upgraded version of its AI engine.

AEBN Publishes Popular Searches by Country for February, March

AEBN has released the list of popular searches from its straight and gay theaters by country in February and March.

Show More