THE internet will become a safer place for communities in the south west as a charity and internet provider join forces to minimise sexual abuse content.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has welcomed network operator and internet service provider Jurassic Fibre Limited (JFL) as members, enabling them to enhance the security of their services to keep their customers, especially children, safe online.

The IWF is a charity working to make the internet a safer place, with a focus on the removal of child sexual abuse images and videos that are available online.

JFL bosses are pleased to have partnered with the IWF and to have access to their tools and services to block access to child sexual abuse material, as they work to make their broadband available to 360,000 homes and businesses in the region.

The internet provider already applies IWF's URL blocking list to its filtering of web pages where images and videos of confirmed child sexual abuse have been identified, so these pages cannot be accessed during the process or reporting and taking them down.

Michael Maltby, chief executive and founder of JFL, said: "Social responsibility underpins all of our values here at Jurassic Fibre, and one of our key priorities as an internet service provider is protecting and safeguarding our customers and employees online.

"We are very pleased to partner with the IWF which is taking the essential action required to tackle online criminal content and ensure that the internet is a safe place for all."

Susie Hargreaves OBE, chief executive of the IWF, said: "IWF services and tools provided to the tech sector are ever more essential as we continue to adapt to the technological advances in telecommunications.

"We're seeing how more alternative fibre-optic networks are putting online safety at their heart and using blocking lists to protect their customers and the communities they serve.

"It is very encouraging that Jurassic Fibre is taking the lead in the south west in recognising the part they play in keeping the internet safer and working with the IWF to prevent access to criminal child sexual abuse material online.

"Working together will help make a real difference to victims' lives."

For more information about the IWF or to anonymously report images and videos of online child sexual abuse, visit the IWF website.