The Home Office told OUT-LAW.COM that a Parliamentary Question will be answered today on setting up an Internet Task Force to be chaired by Home Office minister Lord Bassam with membership from the internet industry and child protection groups. The Task Force is expected to draft the new “Anti-Grooming Order”.
Under the proposed Order, according to The Independent’s report, parents, children and the police could apply for an injunction order against anyone suspected of using the internet to find – or “groom” child victims by either lying about their age or giving false personal details. Breaking such an order would result in a possible five-year prison term. The police and ISPs would be expected to monitor chatrooms for such illegal use, an burden which is likely to be impossible to meet.
The Independent observes that, controversially, the proposal would “outlaw conduct that is merely preparatory to a crime but where the offence itself has not taken place or been attempted.”
There are already laws against asking a child under 16 to meet for sexual purposes or asking a child to perform indecent acts. IT news site The Register is calling for the Home Office proposal to be scrapped and instead recommends educating children about the potential dangers of internet chatrooms.