Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

MPs deluged by wave of hardcore e-mails

Nigel Morris
Thursday 24 October 2002 00:00 BST
Comments

Computer systems at Westminster are to be fitted with special filters to stop MPs being bombarded with explicit e-mails.

Hundreds have received unsolicited messages, including adverts for hard-core pornographic sites, in recent weeks. Other Commons staff have been sent similar messages.

Commons authorities have dismissed suggestions that MPs are being specifically targeted, but the problem has become so acute that they have ordered emergency action.

The Tory MP Michael Fabricant, chairman of the Commons Information Committee, said: "It isn't just the content of these e-mails that many MPs find offensive but the sheer volume, which is blocking inboxes and preventing constituents from making contact with their representatives." He said he hoped a filter system could be installed within two months.

A spokesman for the parliamentary communications directorate said: "Most MPs' e-mail addresses are in the public domain, and can therefore easily be targeted by unscrupulous companies."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in