The ITC claims it used new research methods to investigate what users and potential users of the internet expect from relevant regulators. The ITC used a Citizen's Forum last October where 200 people aged between 16 and 86 aired their views over a day and a half.
The forum included presentations from expert witnesses with opposing points of view and debated the issues raised in small groups. Both the ITC and the Broadcasting Standards Commission were able to track how the views of the participants changed as they learned more.
The results show that, as people became more aware of how to avoid material considered undesirable, then they were 'more willing to take responsibility for what they view, and feel that the internet does not need to be subject to external content regulation'.
The ITC says that initially one person in seven thought that users should regulate themselves, while by the end of the forum more than half held this view. The Commission notes that this shift in opinion was reflected in views on the protection of children as many decided that what was needed was better software to enable parents to supervise their offspring.
Overall, at the start of the forum 56% thought the advantages of the internet outweighed the disadvantages but by the end of the debates this figure had risen to 67%.
'The message from this research is that internet users want informed self-regulation and value the work of organisations like the Internet Watch Foundation,' said ITC Chief Executive Peter Rogers.
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