IWF scoops 20th Anniversary ISPA Award

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has won the 20th Anniversary Award 2018 in the UK ISP Internet Industry Awards for its ground-breaking work removing child sexual abuse imagery from the internet.

Date 2018-07-16 Author Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) Section awareness, hotlines

The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), which hosted the awards ceremony on Thursday, 12 July 2018, chose the IWF as its worthy winner of the prestigious prize, which is one of three new awards added for 2018.

On its 20th anniversary in 2016, the IWF proudly celebrated having reduced the UK's hosting of child sexual abuse imagery from 18 per cent in 1996, to less than 1 per cent today. This was done through its fundamental services to the internet industry, including its URL List and Keywords List.

The UK Safer Internet Centre (SIC), of which the IWF is a partner with Childnet International and SWGfL (South West Grid for Learning), was also selected as a finalist in the Best Project or Partnership category, which is another new award for 2018.

Susie Hargreaves OBE, IWF CEO and UK SIC Director, said: "I'm absolutely thrilled to hear that the IWF has won this ISPA Award. We know that our Hotline Analysts are world class and have worked incredibly hard over the past 20 years.

"When we started out, 18 per cent of online child sexual abuse was hosted in the UK. Today that figure is less than 1 per cent.

"To have this success recognised by the internet industry is something which means a great deal to us. Thank you."

The finalists for 2018 were scrutinised by an "independent panel of industry experts," while broadband ISPs, website hosts and VoIP providers underwent technical testing.

The winners were announced during the awards ceremony at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.

This article was originally published on the IWF website and is republished here with permission - read the original article here.

Read more about the ISPA Awards at www.ispa.org.uk/ispa-awards.

Find out more about the IWF at www.iwf.org.uk.
 
Find out more about the work of the UK Safer Internet Centre (SIC), including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services.

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