article: A radical change in the law to protect a generation of children from the tide of internet sleaze will be introduced if the Conservatives win the election. Culture and Media Secretary Sajid Javid is setting out plans to shield youngsters from easy access to hardcore online pornography amid fears that it is corroding childhood. He promised legislation to force distributors to put effective age verification technology in place that would apply to those based in the UK as well as abroad. Scroll down for video . Easy access: The rising tide of online pornography is corroding children - but the Tories have now pledged to a radical change in the law to protect a generation of children from the tide of internet sleaze . If porn websites fail to comply, they will be blocked by a powerful new regulator which will be able to issue financial penalties. Mr Javid's pledge is a victory for the Daily Mail's long-running Block Online Porn campaign. Ministers have already persuaded internet service providers to start contacting all 19million UK households connected to the web and making them choose whether to apply family-friendly filters that block all porn sites. In addition, for any new broadband users, a block on pornographic websites is automatically applied by default. Customers now have to specifically ask for this filter to be removed – or to 'opt in' – in order to able to access adult material. But Mr Javid said a more radical crackdown was necessary to prevent children freely accessing pornography. 'Even the most attentive and engaged parents cannot know for sure which websites our children are visiting and what images they're seeing,' the minister told the Mail. 'In 2015 anyone, regardless of their age, is only ever two clicks away from the kind of material that would be kept well away from young eyes in the high street. 'Imagine a 12-year-old-boy being allowed to walk into a sex shop and leave with a DVD showing graphic, violent sexual intercourse and the subjugation of women,' he said. 'Yet each and every day children right across our country are being exposed to such images – it's happening online.' Mr Javid, who is increasingly tipped as a potential future Conservative leader, cited evidence that viewing hardcore porn can lead to children 'pressuring each other to try out things they've seen, and sharing inappropriate sexual pictures and videos'. 'It is because of these types of concerns that we have long restricted and regulated adult content in the offline world – magazines, TV, DVDs or video-on-demand content. 'Such protections are taken for granted, and, as the Daily Mail has argued for years, it's time our approach to the online world caught up.' Mr Javid said if the Tories win next month 'we will legislate to put online hardcore pornography behind effective age verification controls'. 'If websites showing adult content don't have proper age controls in place – ones that will stop children looking at this kind of material – they should and will be blocked altogether,' he added. An independent regulator will oversee the new system and determine how age verification controls will work. These are likely to involve similar software in place on gambling websites, which use credit card details or software to check passport details or driving licences to confirm users are over 18. Mr Javid's pledge is a victory for the Daily Mail's Block Online Porn campaign . The regulator will also be given the power to require UK service providers to block specific websites identified as distributing hardcore pornography without effective age verification controls in place. It will have the power to issue targeted sanctions, including financial penalties. Mr Javid added: 'It is right that we have the same rules applying online as we do offline. If we fail to take action, there is every chance the sort of things children see on these websites will be considered 'normal' by the next generation. That is not the sort of society I want to see and certainly not the sort of society I want my children to live in.' Sarah Green, of the End Violence against Women Coalition, said the group 'warmly welcomed' the proposals. Peter Wanless, of the NSPCC, said: 'We don't want children to learn about sex and relationships through the warped lens of adult pornography. 'This week we warned that ten per cent of children aged 12 and 13 were addicted to porn and one in eight had taken part in a sexually explicit video. Any action that makes it more difficult for young people to find this material is to be welcomed.' It's time to protect children  online . By SAJID JAVID, Culture & Media Secretary, writing exclusively for MailOnline . Imagine a 12-year-old-boy being allowed to walk into a sex shop and leave with a DVD showing graphic, violent sexual intercourse and the subjugation of women. You would, quite rightly, ask whether society should allow such a young mind to view hard-core pornography. I’m sure we’d all agree that the answer would be an emphatic “no”. Yet each and every day children right across our country are being exposed to such images. And it’s happening online. The internet has been an amazing force for good in so many ways. But it also brings new threats and challenges for us to contend with. I’m a father of four young children and I know all too well that the online world can be a worrying place for mums and dads. After all, even the most attentive and engaged parents cannot know for sure which websites our children are visiting and what images they’re seeing. Culture and Media Secretary Sajid Javid is setting out plans to shield youngsters from easy access to hardcore online pornography . In 2015 anyone, regardless of their age, is only ever two clicks away from the kind of material that would be kept well away from young eyes in the high street. And allowing young people to access pornography carries alarming consequences both for individuals and for society. It can lead to children pressuring each other to try out things they’ve seen online, and sharing inappropriate sexual pictures and videos. And it can lead to children having unhealthy attitudes towards sex AND relationships. It is because of these types of concerns that we have long restricted and regulated adult content in the offline world – whether that is magazines, TV programmes, DVDs or video-on-demand content. Such protections are taken for granted, and, as the Daily Mail has argued for years, it’s time our approach to the online world caught up. So today we are announcing that, if the Conservatives win the next general election, we will legislate to put online hard-core pornography behind effective age verification controls. Of course adults should be perfectly free to look at these sites. But if websites showing adult content don’t have proper age controls in place – ones that will stop children looking at this kind of material – they should and will be blocked altogether. No sex shop on the high street would be allowed to remain open if it knowingly sold pornography to underage customers, and there is no reason why the internet should be any different. An independent regulator will oversee this new system. It will determine, in conjunction with websites, how age verification controls will work and how websites that do not put them in place will be blocked. One thing is absolutely clear: the Conservative Party’s commitment to child safety online. For the past five years we have been working with industry on A voluntary basis, an approach that led to the creation of default-on family filters. But filtering is just one way in which we can keep our children safe online. Now we can – and must – go further to give our children the best start in life. There will be some who say that this exercise is futile, that websites and children alike will find ways to get around this law. And I agree that there are always people who try to avoid legal restrictions. But we must not let the best be the enemy of the good. It is right that we act now and do what we can to restrict this content. It is right that we have the same rules applying online as we do offline. And it is right that we do everything we can to protect our children. If we fail to take action, there is every chance that the sort of things children see on these websites will be considered ‘normal’ by the next generation. That is not the sort of society I want to see and it’s certainly not the sort of society I want my children to live in. Over time Britain’s laws have evolved to reflect our most deeply held values and beliefs, and the protection of children has long been a sacrosanct principle at the heart of that. I don’t believe that we should abandon such an important principle simply because the latest threat to our young people comes from a technology that also brings incredible benefits. There is a choice at this election, and it is between a party which backs families wants to give children the best start in life, and a chaotic Labour Party with no plan. We are clear: adults should and will be free to view legal content, but we would never stand by and allow that 12-year-old boy to buy hardcore pornography from a sex shop. It’s time to make sure our children are just as well protected online as they are on the high street.
highlights: Radical change in the law to protect a generation of children will be introduced if the Conservatives win the election .
  Culture and Media Secretary Sajid Javid is setting out plans to shield youngsters from easy access to hardcore online pornography .
  Promised legislation to force distributors to put effective age verification technology in place .
  His pledge is a victory for the Daily Mail's Block Online Porn campaign .
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