Exactly as expected.The vast majority of new broadband customers in the UK are opting out of "child friendly" filters when prompted to install them by service providers. The industry watchdog Ofcom found fewer than one in seven households installed the feature, which is offered by BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media. The filters block pornographic websites, as well as pages promoting self-harm or drug taking. The default option was implemented at the behest of the UK government.
In July 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron announced the major UK internet service providers (ISPs) had agreed to offer "unavoidable choice" parental control filters, which block legal pornography and other adult subjects "by default". New subscribers are offered the filter at the point of sign-up, and must actively choose to disable the parental control service.
However, the Ofcom report found users had overwhelmingly opted-out of the filter. Of the four main ISPs, all of whom now offer a filter at the point of sign-up, TalkTalk was the only company to persuade more than 10% of people to subscribe.
The percentage of customers taking up the option for each service provider are as follows:
Virgin Media - 4%
BT - 5%
Sky - 8%
TalkTalk - 36%
From what I hear, they're also incredibly easy to circumvent simply by using the right language in your searches. One reporter, for example, was able to find porn through a filter by simply using French, Spanish or German search terms instead of English ones.
