Parliamentary Wi-Fi used in 24,000 bids to access porn

  • 08/01/2018
Big Ben.
Big Ben. Photo credit: Getty

More than 24,000 attempts have been made to access pornographic websites in the UK's Houses of Parliament since last June’s General Election, according to official data.

The figure of 24,473 attempts represents about 160 requests per day on average from computers and other devices connected to the parliamentary network, used by MPs, peers and staff, between June and October last year.

The revelations came amid a sex scandal in Westminster, which saw Theresa May sack her de facto deputy, Damian Green, after he made "misleading" statements about allegations that police found pornography on computers in his parliamentary office in 2008.

"All pornographic websites are blocked by Parliament's computer network,” said a Parliamentary spokesman.

"The vast majority of 'attempts' to access them are not deliberate. The data shows 'requests' to access websites, not visits to them.

"There are 8500 computers on the parliamentary network, which are used by MPs, peers, their staff and staff of both Houses. This data also covers personal devices used when logged on to Parliament's guest Wi-Fi."

A separate (FOI) request showed there were also at least 2,751,755 attempts to access blocked websites on the parliamentary network from January to October 2017.

PA