NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Google moves to block searches for child porn sites

AP
18 Nov, 2013 05:38 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Google is to block child porn websites from its search functions, but experts say that's not how paedophiles get their material. Photo / Thinkstock

Google is to block child porn websites from its search functions, but experts say that's not how paedophiles get their material. Photo / Thinkstock

Google says it has developed new technology to block child porn from its search results, ahead of talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron who has been pushing for action on indecent images online.

Cameron hailed Google's move as "significant progress", even if campaigners noted it affects only a fraction of the 1.2 trillion Google searches conducted each year.

Executive chairman Eric Schmidt said more than 200 Google staff have been working on new ways to tackle the problem of child sex abuse images in the past three months.

"While society will never wholly eliminate such depravity, we should do everything in our power to protect children from harm," Schmidt wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper.

He added: "We've fine-tuned Google Search to prevent links to child sexual abuse material from appearing in our results."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The restrictions will initially apply to English-speaking countries but will be expanded to the rest of the world and 158 other languages within six months.

Microsoft, which owns the Bing search engine, has also stepped up action against online child abuse in recent months and it welcomed Monday's internet safety summit at Cameron's Downing Street office.

"Increased collaboration (with government and industry bodies)... is the best way to combat this vile content," a spokesman for the technology giant said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Microsoft has developed and shared its picture detection technology which helps prevent banned images being duplicated across the web, while Google is also testing new ways to identify videos of child sex abuse.

Warnings have been added to more than 13,000 search results making clear child sex abuse is illegal, Schmidt said, while both Google and Microsoft have stopped auto-complete features from offering child abuse search terms.

The internet summit comes just days after police in Canada revealed they had arrested 341 people around the world, including teachers and doctors, following an investigation into a child porn site.

Authorities seized a vast amount of data, including hundreds of thousands of images and videos detailing "horrific" sexual acts against children as young as five.

Discover more

World

386 kids rescued in child porn bust

14 Nov 06:41 PM
New Zealand

NZ helps uncover child porn ring

15 Nov 01:00 AM
Business

Google, Microsoft block child abuse search results

18 Nov 07:50 PM
World

Cameron adds weight to child porn clean-up

19 Nov 04:30 PM

But the British government has been pushing for action since the summer, after two high-profile child sex murders in which the killers were found to have searched for child porn online.

In July, Cameron threatened to introduce legislation to block access to illegal images if search engines failed in their "moral duty" to do it voluntarily.

"Since then, we have worked closely with both Google and Microsoft and they have made significant progress in preventing child abuse content from being returned," the prime minister said ahead of Monday's summit.

But he said the threat of legislation remained.

"With the progress that has been made in four months, I believe we are heading in the right direction but no one should be in doubt that there is a red line," Cameron said.

"If more isn't done to stop illegal content or pathways being found when someone uses a child abuse search term, we will do what is necessary to protect our children."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Some experts warned that the reforms will not stop pedophiles sharing images on the internet.

"They don't go on to Google to search for images. They go on to the dark corners of the internet on peer-to-peer websites," said Jim Gamble, former head of the police-linked Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

- AFP

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

'Besotted': Spy's infatuation led to involvement in Russian espionage

13 May 06:55 AM
World

What happened to MH17? UN finds Russia responsible for downing passenger plane

13 May 06:00 AM
New Zealand

'Act of terrorism': Kiwi mum whose son died in MH17 disaster wants Russia held accountable

13 May 05:52 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

'Besotted': Spy's infatuation led to involvement in Russian espionage

'Besotted': Spy's infatuation led to involvement in Russian espionage

13 May 06:55 AM

Orlin Roussev led the spy ring and was jailed for 10 years and eight months.

What happened to MH17? UN finds Russia responsible for downing passenger plane

What happened to MH17? UN finds Russia responsible for downing passenger plane

13 May 06:00 AM
'Act of terrorism': Kiwi mum whose son died in MH17 disaster wants Russia held accountable

'Act of terrorism': Kiwi mum whose son died in MH17 disaster wants Russia held accountable

13 May 05:52 AM
'I'm a pacifist': Streamer Hasan Piker on border questioning ordeal

'I'm a pacifist': Streamer Hasan Piker on border questioning ordeal

13 May 05:48 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP