Filtering the internet is not stopping kids from looking at adult websites, according to the European commission. One in five attempts by a kid to see an adult site will be successful, which makes a joke of the software.

Part of the problem is that the software is obssessed with sex forgetting that there are number of different sites that kids really should not see. Current filtering software is allowing youngsters access to sites promoting self-harm more than any other unsuitable material, a survey said.

'There is still at least a 20 per cent chance that sites with unsuitable material for children,' the report said, 'and especially those encouraging youngsters to self-harm - sites promoting anorexia, suicide or self-mutilation - could pass through the filters.' The UK and Ireland are the biggest users of software filters to protect their kids. More than half of parents have installed software filters on their kids PCs.

The survey also warned that, while the vast majority of the software programmes tested enabled parents to block access, only a few products now on the market efficiently filtered so-called 'web 2.0' content, such as social networking sites or blogs. Only a few products can filter web content accessed via mobile phones or game consoles.