LONDON, July 22 (UPI) -- Internet providers in Britain must automatically block pornography unless their customers specifically request otherwise, Prime Minister David Cameron said.
All new Internet customers will see pornography blocked as a default and must request to have the block lifted if they wish, the BBC reported Monday.
Existing customers will be contacted by their Internet providers in order to decide if they want the "family-friendly" filters installed.
Cameron said the effort is meant to halt what he calls the corrosion of childhood.
"I want to talk about the Internet, the impact it is having on the innocence of our children, how online pornography is corroding childhood," he said.
"And how, in the darkest corners of the Internet, there are things going on that are a direct danger to our children, and that must be stamped out."
In addition to the new filters, Cameron wants certain "horrific" search terms to be "blacklisted" so that when searched, zero results are brought up on websites like Google or Bing, the BBC said.
Cameron said he fully expects Internet service providers to argue against his changes, citing freedom of speech.
