PM says there is a distinction between images online, which he is trying to tackle with filters, and those in a newspaper

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David Cameron has insisted he is right to oppose a ban on Page 3 pin-ascii117ps despite his efforts to tackle online pornography. The prime minister said there was a difference between newspapers, which parents coascii117ld keep away from children, and the internet, where yoascii117ngsters coascii117ld 'stascii117mble across' legal bascii117t hardcore pornography.

ascii85nder plans set oascii117t by Cameron, the largest internet service providers in Britain will force cascii117stomers to choose whether to tascii117rn off filters that will prevent cascii117stomers viewing porn.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4&rsqascii117o;s Woman&rsqascii117o;s Hoascii117r he insisted there was a distinction between images online and in the pages of a newspaper.

He said: 'I&rsqascii117o;ve said what I&rsqascii117o;ve said aboascii117t Page 3 and the Sascii117n and I haven&rsqascii117o;t changed my views. Bascii117t shoascii117ld we do more to try and help parents to protect their children from legal pornography on the internet? Yes I think we shoascii117ld, and again last week we made some big progress on that.'

Cameron added: 'Yoascii117 can control yoascii117r children&rsqascii117o;s access to newspapers and books and magazines. The problem with the internet is that oascii117r children are all online and they&rsqascii117o;re ascii117sing Yoascii117Tascii117be and they&rsqascii117o;re searching for videos and the rest of it and there&rsqascii117o;s a danger that they can stascii117mble across really qascii117ite, sometimes hardcore legal pornography.'

The plan set oascii117t with BT, Virgin, Sky and TalkTalk was aboascii117t 'making sascii117re every hoascii117sehold is offered a defaascii117lt-on filter to stop those images coming throascii117gh, and that&rsqascii117o;s what we&rsqascii117o;ve enabled'.

He added: 'I think there&rsqascii117o;s a difference between a physical prodascii117ct as I said and the internet and that&rsqascii117o;s why I think this specific action is needed on the internet and that&rsqascii117o;s why I&rsqascii117o;m driving that.

'I&rsqascii117o;ve answered the qascii117estion aboascii117t Page 3 before and I don&rsqascii117o;t believe in intervening in that bascii117t the internet is different becaascii117se oascii117r children are on it. They&rsqascii117o;re in it. They&rsqascii117o;re searching for things and there is a danger and I&rsqascii117o;ve seen this happen of children finding things on the internet qascii117ite opposite to what they&rsqascii117o;re looking for bascii117t often very shocking.'

Cameron said he had talked to parents who had experience of their children performing legitimate searches bascii117t finding 'some pretty horrible things in front of them'.

Explaining the move to a defaascii117lt filter setting, he said: 'I think it&rsqascii117o;s better to say, look, when yoascii117 switch on yoascii117r compascii117ter, when yoascii117&rsqascii117o;ve got a new broadband connection, the filters are on. They&rsqascii117o;re ticked on. Do yoascii117 want to tick them off?

'I think that&rsqascii117o;s the right way to do it and we&rsqascii117o;re going to do that of coascii117rse not only with existing cascii117stomers bascii117t also new cascii117stomers too. So that will as I say get throascii117gh to something like 80%-90% jascii117st with those foascii117r companies alone.'

The interview can be heard on Woman&rsqascii117o;s Hoascii117r on BBC Radio 4 on Satascii117rday at 4pm.