Government has pledged to protect children from ?dishonest, fraudulent and obscene? pornography on the Internet.

Addressing the House of Assembly on Friday, announced his intention to create a Children?s Online Protection Act, which would ?effectively deal with the public and private accessing of child pornography? on the Island.

While conceding the Internet is a ?complex? entity which ?defies and challenges? national boundaries, Mr. Scott said there were several ?positive? steps that could be taken to minimise the amount of obscene material downloaded locally.

?The challenging nature of the task before us notwithstanding, this Government is committed to providing a solution that protects children,? he said.

Following the advice of the E-Commerce Advisory Board, a Child Protection Advisory Group will sit for the first time in January, with a mandate to ?provide advice? on the development of a Child Protection White Paper.

?This is an important and necessary legislative initiative,? Mr. Scott concluded.

?I would like to thank those members of the public, and in particular members of the Police service, whose investigative involvement with cases of child pornography have given heightened urgency to this process.?