computer law & security report 24 (2008) 41–55 available at www.sciencedirect.com www.compseconline.com/publications/prodclaw.htm Online child protection Cybering, online grooming and ageplay Sylvia Kierkegaard International Association of IT Lawyers, Denmark abstract Recent advances in computer technology have been aiding sexual predators, stalkers, child pornographers, child traffickers, and others with the intent of exploiting children. Internet bulletin boards, chat rooms, private websites, and peer-to-peer networks are being used daily by paedophiles to meet unsuspecting children. Compounding the problem is the lack of direct governance by an international body, which will curb the illegal content and activity. Most countries already have laws protecting children, but what is needed is a concerted law enforcement and international legislation to combat child sex abuse. With the enactment of the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploi- tation and Sexual Abuse, this may soon become a reality in Europe. This current article will discuss some of the recent legal developments concerning online child protection, includ- ing the new Convention. ª 2007 Sylvia Kierkegaard. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction and peer-to-peer networks are being used daily by paedophiles to meet unsuspecting children. The misuse of the Internet for The Internet is a special artefact system that has enormous pornography, cyber bullying, grooming and paedophilia has technical and social positive impacts on modern society. become a major issue of international concern. Because of The online environment enables access to a wealth of infor- the freedom and the anonymous environment offered by the mation and communication across both distance and time. Internet, child molesters and pornographers are increasingly There is a vast amount of data available on virtually every sub- using the Internet to further their criminal activity. ject, making it an effective learning tool. However, it is also a Compounding the problem is the lack of direct governance double-edged sword with negative and positive consequences. by an international body, which will curb the illegal content It has a potential for misuse and has generated societal con- and activity. Because cyberspace has no national boundary, cerns. Today, the danger to children is even greater because each country has to apply its own legislation within its na- the Internet provides anonymity to predators. tional border, creating a disparity in legislations. For example, Recent advances in computer technology have been aiding images which are illegal to view in the USA may not be illegal sexual predators, stalkers, child pornographers, child traf- to view in Germany. Most countries already have laws protect- fickers, and others with the intent of exploiting children. ing children, but what is needed is a concerted law enforce- While they have existed prior to the Internet, the advent of ment and international legislation to combat child sex abuse. the new technology has allowed for easier and faster distribu- With the enactment of the Convention on the Protection of tion of pornographic materials and communication across Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, this national and international boundaries. The criminals have may soon become a reality in Europe. This current article used the Internet to solicit sexually explicit images of young will discuss some of the recent legal developments concerning people. Internet bulletin boards, chat rooms, private websites, online child protection particularly in Europe, including the 0267-3649/$ – see front matter ª 2007 Sylvia Kierkegaard. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2007.11.004 42 computer law & security report 24 (2008) 41–55 new Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual There are 4.2 million pornographic websites (12% of total Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. websites). While the United States is the leading porn producing coun- try, majority of the leading producers are based in Europe 2. Internet crimes against children (Netherlands, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom). 34% Received unwanted exposure to sexual material. The global nature of the Internet, the ease with which illegal 100,000 Websites offer child pornography. materials can be produced in one country, distributed from a 2.5 Billion (8% of total emails) consist of daily pornographic second, moved from one host server to another and accessed/ emails. downloaded in many countries across the world has created The daily Gnutella ‘‘child pornography’’ request is 116,000. a major problem. Amongst others, the risks for children using Sexual solicitations (89%) of youth are made in the chat these features are grooming, disclosure of sensitive personal rooms. information/images, exposure to harmful content (pornog- The number of youths who received sexual solicitation is raphy, sexual speech, violence, etc.) encouragement to one out of seven. harmful behaviour and cyber bullying. Child pornography The average age of first Internet exposure to pornography is and grooming have become a problem of international 11 years old. proportions. The largest consumer of Internet pornography is the 35–49 The production and distribution of child abuse material are age group. facilitated through commercial websites, user generated web- The number of 15–17 years old having multiple hard-core sites and peer-to-peer/file sharing network. Offenders take exposures is 80%. sexual pictures of minors and one can even order a live online The number of 8–16 years old having viewed porn online is molestation of a real child and infant for viewing. The preva- 90%, most while doing homework. lence of home video production facilitates the ease of making The percentage of 7–17 years old who would freely give out and posting sexual images online. Internet sex trading, where home address is 29%. teenagers are offered goods or money in exchange for sexual The percentage of 7–17 years old who would freely give out favours, is on the rise. email address is 14%. The Internet provides another context for the production Children’s character names linked to thousands of porn of child pornography. Child pornography can be defined as links is 268 including Okeman and Action Man. any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving children under the age of 18. Numerous criminal intelligence In Britain, the UK Cybercrime report commissioned by agencies assess that the number of websites showing images online criminology firm 1871 Ltd, suggested that more than of child sexual abuse is on the rise. three million offences were committed online last year. There The extent of child pornography available on the Internet is were 8,50,000 instances of sex crimes – where individuals difficult to determine. Agencies can only estimate the scale of were ‘cyberstalked’ or received unwanted sexual approaches the increase and the figures come mostly from surveys and and paedophiles grooming underage children for sex (AFP, public hotlines where people can report sites with images of 2007a,b). The recent arrest of Tim Cox highlights the extent child abuse and interview. of this malaise. The British police’s infiltration of the chat INHOPE, the International Association of Internet Hotlines, room ‘‘Kids The Light Of Our Lives’’ ran by 27-year-old Tim said monthly trends of processed reports over a 28-month pe- Cox, who called himself the ‘‘Son_of_God’’ was the largest in- riod to December 2006 showed racism and xenophobia grew ternational investigation of its kind. The site allowed paedo- by 33 percent, adult pornography by 24 percent and child por- philes to share images and videos of child sex abuse and nography by 15 percent (AFP, 2007a,b). Substantial increases plans for abusing victims ranging from the age of babies to in racist and pornographic websites were reported on Septem- young teens. The sites have 700 users and allowed trading im- ber 2007 Wednesday by the international watchdog in its first ages, some of which were shocking pictures of children being detailed analysis of illegal activity on the Internet. INHOPE subjected to live abuse shows online. Police found 75,960 inde- hotlines collect reports about illegal and harmful contents in cent images of children on Cox’s computer, and evidence he over 25 countries around the world including members from had supplied 11,491 images to other site users. He arranged the Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. The report says live abuse of youngsters at pre-designated times (Observer, that in the 28 months, the INHOPE network received 900,000 2007). Worldwide, the investigation into the users of ‘‘Kids reports from the general public. There were 160,000 reports the Light of Our Lives’’ has led to the rescue of 31 children forwarded to law enforcement agencies for action, an average from abuse or positions of harm. of 5800 per month. The report said 10,000 reports processed Aside from online child pornography, another issue is the a month, contained child pornography. tactic of grooming, where paedophile criminals contact the The 2006 Internet Filter Review (Ropelato, 2007) reports the children and gain their trust for the purpose of meeting following. them and engaging in sexual behaviour. The Internet enables paedophiles to entice multiple victims at once. For instance, Every second – 28,258 Internet users are viewing the High Court in Edinburgh sentenced Steven Brodie (29) for pornography. 8 years for having sex with two underage girls he met in the The total pornography revenue is $97.06 billion with China chat room. The Court was told that Brodie swapped about being the biggest revenue earner in 2006 ($27.40 billion). 200 text messages and calls with the 13-year-old girl he met computer law & security report 24 (2008) 41–55 43 in a chat room before driving to her Highland home and having have a higher risk of victimization. Young people are particu- sex with her after the victim’s mother left for work.