Open Rights Group urges mobile censorship rethink

"Many customers are locked into substantial contract terms attached to many phones, there must be robust reporting mechanisms and swift remedies so that customers can fix problems when changing provider is not an option," it stated.

The process of deciding what sites should be blocked needs to be more transparent and regularly reviewed, added ORG.

"There needs to be mechanisms that allow website owners to challenge a refusal to remove their site from a blocking system," it said.

"At the same time, there should be transparent reporting and mechanisms for problems, mistakes and resolutions."

In a further statement, Peter Bradwell, author of the ORG report, said: "The lessons for 'porn filter' proposals are clear. Default-on blocks can have significant harmful and unintended consequences for everybody's access to information.

"To help protect children online, the Government should reject 'default on' network filtering and work to give parents simpler choices and better, device-based tools."

Caroline Donnelly is the news and analysis editor of IT Pro and its sister site Cloud Pro, and covers general news, as well as the storage, security, public sector, cloud and Microsoft beats. Caroline has been a member of the IT Pro/Cloud Pro team since March 2012, and has previously worked as a reporter at several B2B publications, including UK channel magazine CRN, and as features writer for local weekly newspaper, The Slough and Windsor Observer. She studied Medical Biochemistry at the University of Leicester and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism at PMA Training in 2006.